Police were alerted to risks ahead of the holiday period
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| Germany Warned About Christmas Market Attack Suspect |
A Saudi national has been arrested on suspicion of inciting a deadly attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany. Demands for the surrender of his homeland, however, were met with silence.
Saudi Arabia alerted German authorities about the man about a year ago, dpa reported. However, the nature of the warning was not immediately known. Riyadh had also demanded the extradition of the 50-year-old doctor, but there has been no response from Berlin, state security sources told the news agency.
German security sources said Saudi Arabia had repeatedly warned the country’s authorities about the suspect’s radical views, which he openly expressed on Twitter, Reuters reported. Taleb A was reportedly a radical Islamophobe who had publicly renounced his religion.
The suspect has lived in Germany since 2006 but received protected status in 2016. Before that, he ran into German law in 2013, when he was convicted, Spiegel reported for “disturbing the public peace by criminal threats.”
The man was eventually fined around €900 and allowed to stay in Germany, mainly because they feared he would be “immediately killed” if sent back to his homeland, the report indicated.
reportedly moved into a crowd at a Christmas market in Magdeburg on Friday evening, killing at least five people, including a child, and wounding about 200 others, 41 of whom are now in serious or critical condition.
So far, officials said Saturday, the motive for the attack remains unclear. But Magdeburg prosecutor Horst Knoppens suggested that perceived dissatisfaction with Berlin's treatment of Saudi refugees could have triggered the attack, and the attacker is now guilty of five murders and more than 200 attempted murders, according to the government, the lawyer said.