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The German government has pledged to investigate what authorities knew about a man accused of carrying out a deadly attack at a Magdeburg Christmas market after multiple agencies acknowledged receiving warnings about the man.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser promised to find out what actions were taken by authorities in response to multiple reports about Taleb al-Abdulmohsen. Taleb al-Abdulmohsen is a 50-year-old Saudi dissident accused of killing five people and injuring more than 200 others.
Feather told tabloid Bild am Sonntag the investigation “will look into exactly what warnings were given in the past and how they were investigated”.
The head of the country’s federal police confirmed late Saturday that the agency had received a warning from Saudi Arabia about Abdulmothan in November 2023.
Holger Münch told German broadcaster ZDF that police in Saxony-Anhalt took “appropriate investigative measures” after Saudi authorities raised the alarm.
Monk said the alleged attacker, who police said Sunday was charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder, had personally had various contacts with authorities, including “insults and sometimes threats.”
Germany’s migration and refugee office confirmed on Sunday it had received a warning about Abdelmosen and said it had been passed on to the competent authorities, adding: “This tip, like all other tips, is taken seriously. .
On Sunday, the interior minister of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where Abdelmosen has lived for about five years, confirmed that the suspect was arrested for “disturbing public order” after a dispute with the local medical association. was fined.
Christian Pegel, the state’s interior minister, said the Saudi national had threatened to commit an act that attracted international attention in 2013, referring to the Boston Marathon that year in which three people died. attack.
Pagel said Abdelmosen’s home had been searched in response, but no evidence of preparations or any Islamist links had been found.
Andrea Lindholz, a lawmaker from the opposition Christian Socialist Union, said on Sunday that “there are questions about how well the authorities understood domestic and foreign warnings” and called for answers.
Police Chief Mink said reports about the suspect, who was not known for violent crimes, were “not specific.” He added that he appeared to be an “atypical offender” who did not fit the usual pattern.
The Magdeburg attack killed four adults and a nine-year-old boy, sparking grief across Germany and casting a pall over the final weekend before Christmas.
“There is no place more peaceful and pleasant than a Christmas market,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said during a visit to the city on Saturday. “What a horrific act to injure and kill so many people with such brutality.”
On Sunday, French Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad is expected to travel to Magdeburg to express his condolences.
Abdul Mohsen, a Saudi dissident who calls himself a former Muslim, wrote on social media that “big things are going to happen in Germany.” Authorities described him as a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia who came to Germany in 2006 and worked as a psychiatrist.
He expresses sympathy for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and accuses his home country of promoting the Islamization of Europe.
Prosecutors said he may have been motivated by frustration with Germany’s treatment of some refugees and asylum seekers.
In an interview with the doctor published 10 days ago by RAIR, a US platform that describes itself as an anti-Muslim grassroots organization, he accused German police of deliberately disrupting the lives of Saudi asylum seekers who have renounced Islam.
The confusing situation has prompted a cautious response to attacks by the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which leads in opinion polls ahead of snap national elections scheduled for the end of February.
CDU leader and chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz said on Saturday that the suspect’s unusual profile forced politicians to “first stop and judge what happened…”. . . Only based on reliable information.
Even before Friday’s attack, Scholz’s government was under security pressure following a fatal stabbing in the city of Solingen in August.
Police said scuffles broke out at a protest attended by about 2,000 people on Saturday night, where people wearing black balaclavas and holding large banners with the words “re-immigration” were used by far-right supporters to advocate for mass deportations. Immigration terminology.
