Suspect in German market attack appears in court
A 50-year-old Saudi-born man is being held in Germany on suspicion of Friday night’s car attack on hundreds of people visiting Magdeburg’s Christmas market.
The attack killed five people, including a nine-year-old boy and four women, and left more than 200 injured, with many in a critical condition.
Police believe the suspect acted alone, but significant details have emerged about him that indicate this was a very different attack from anything Germany has seen before.
Who is Abdulmohsen?
Video shows arrest of Magdeburg attack suspect
Taleb al-Abdulmohsen has lived in Germany since 2006 and is described as a psychiatrist who was living about 50km (30 miles) south of Magdeburg, in the town of Bernburg.
Abdulmohsen does not fit the profile of attackers who caused mass casualties at Christmas markets in Berlin in 2016 and Strasbourg in France in 2018, or more recently at a festival in Solingen in August.
He is not an extreme Islamist – in fact, if you believe his social media posts and broadcast interviews, he appears to be have abandoned the faith and to have turned into an outspoken critic of Islam.
The motive behind the Magdeburg attack is for now unclear, but a picture of the suspect has emerged based on his past and the various interviews he gave.
He was granted asylum in 2016 and ran a website that aimed to help other former Muslims flee persecution in their Gulf homelands.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said it was “clear to see” the suspect held “Islamophobic” views.
He has also expressed sympathy on social media for Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), known for its anti-immigration stance.
As for the motive of Friday’s killings in Magdeburg, Holger Münch of the federal criminal police has said it is too early to say.
“He has anti-Islamic views; of course he’s also been involved with extreme-right platforms and given interviews,” he told German media. “But drawing a conclusion between what he says and what he’s done… it’s not yet possible to conclude it’s politically motivated.”
The suspect had been on the radar of German authorities for years, and the Saudis even tipped them off in November last year. Saudi sources said four official notifications known as “Notes Verbale” were sent warning German authorities of his “very extreme views”.
Although Saxony-Anhalt police did investigate him, he was never
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