Syrian IS suspect charged with scouting Berlin attack sites

The man identified only as Shaas Al-M. allegedly joined the jihadist group in 2013 and took part in various military operations in Syria, they said in a statement.

Prosecutors declined to tell AFP when and how the suspect entered Germany last year, which in 2015 took in nearly 900,000 asylum seekers, around 40 percent of them from war-ravaged Syria.

Once he arrived, "he inspected potential attack targets during stays in Berlin and arranged to send at least one person to Syria as a fighter".

"In addition, he served as a contact man for potential attackers in Germany and indicated he was prepared to carry out an attack in Germany," they added.

He stands accused of membership of a foreign terrorist organisation as well as military weapons law violations.

Germany has so far been spared large-scale jihadist attacks.

But Europe's biggest economic power has been shaken by two assaults claimed by IS and carried out by asylum seekers -- an axe rampage on a train in Wuerzburg that injured five, and a suicide bombing in Ansbach in which 15 people were hurt.

Police said this month they had foiled an alleged plot by a Syrian refugee to bomb one of Berlin's airports.