22 Jan 2011

Masked robber sought

1:31 pm on 22 January 2011

Police in Austria are hunting a bank robber who disguises himself with a Barack Obama facemask.

Six banks have been held-up in the past three years and the man has been nicknamed the Obama Robber by the media there.

On Thursday, he threatened bank staff in a village near Salzburg with a handgun before making off with an undisclosed amount of money.

Police say the robber speaks in local dialect but could be from either the Inn River region or Bavaria in Germany.

The BBC reports he is believed to have carried out his first hold-up in November 2008 and his second the following May.

An Austrian news website reports the gunman wore a "old man" mask for these events.

It was not until December 2009 that he donned a mask of the American leader.