Suspect in German Christmas market attack was ‘not quite what many rushed to assume', veteran British journalist says

Arab News

21-12-2024

DUBAI: British journalist Andrew Neil said the attacker behind Friday night's deadly car-ramming at a busy Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany appeared to be 'not quite what many on social media rushed to assume.'
'Evidence from his social media indicates he was an anti-Islam doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006 from Saudi Arabia,' the veteran journalist posted on his social media account.
The suspect, who was identified by German authorities as 50-year-old Saudi psychologist Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen, who had permanent residency and had lived in Germany for almost two decades. The motive for the car-ramming remained unknown, and a police operation was under way in the town of Bernburg, south of Magdeburg, where the suspect was believed to have lived.
Reports have noted that Saudi Arabia had warned German authorities about the attacker, who had posted extremist views on his personal X account. Germany's Der Spiegel said the attacker sympathized with the far-right Alternative for Germany party. The magazine did not say where it got the information.
'Various media reports suggest he helped ex-Muslims, particularly women, to flee Saudi Arabia after turning their backs on Islam,' Neil commented. Neil also noted that the suspect posted tweets in support Elon Musk, jailed far right activist Tommy Robinson and malevolent conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
'His social media posts also indicate he thought Germany not doing enough to help Saudi female asylum seekers who had rejected Islam – and that the authorities were trying to undermine his work on their behalf,' the British journalist added.
'In his recent social-media posts published days before the attack he claimed the German government was promoting Islamisation and accused authorities of censoring and persecuting him because of his critical views of Islam. On his website, he warned prospective refugees to avoid Germany because of its government's tolerance of radical Islam,' Neil said.
Christmas markets are a huge part of German culture as an annual holiday tradition, and the violence has prompted other German towns to cancel their weekend events as a precaution and out of solidarity with Magdeburg's loss.
Berlin kept its markets open but has increased its police presence at them.