BERLIN: A German far-right sympathizer suspected of murdering a pro-immigration conservative politician has confessed to the crime, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Wednesday. Federal prosecutor general Peter Frank told members of parliament’s internal affairs committee that Stephan E. had confessed to shooting Walter Luebcke, who was found lying in a pool of blood outside his home in the state of Hesse on June 2.

Luebcke’s murder has revived a debate about whether Germany has been doing enough to combat far-right groups since the chance discovery in 2011 of a neo-Nazi cell, the National Socialist Underground (NSU), whose members murdered eight Turks, a Greek man and a German policewoman from 2000 to 2007.

Seehofer said Stephan E., who was detained on June 15 and whose family name cannot be published under privacy rules, had told investigators he had acted alone. His DNA had matched forensic samples collected by investigators at the scene. However, the interior minister said the investigation into the “political murder” would continue.

“I want to make clear that for us the investigation has not been completed,” Seehofer told reporters at the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag. “We will work intensively to determine in which environment the suspected culprit operated lately and in recent years.” (Agencies)