Saudis
‘had asked for extradition of suspect in Magdeburg attack’
Riyadh
warned Germany ‘many times’ about danger posed by Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen,
source says
Kate
Connolly in Berlin
Mon 23 Dec
2024 10.18 EST
A source
close to the Saudi government has told Agence France-Presse that Saudi
authorities previously requested the extradition of the main suspect in
Friday’s Christmas market attack in Germany, as multiple agencies admitted they
had received warnings about him.
Echoing
reporting from over the weekend, the source said Saudi Arabia had warned
Germany “many times” about Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a Saudi citizen with a history
of spreading anti-Islamic propaganda on social media. He did not explain in
what way he was considered potentially dangerous.
“There was
[an extradition] request,” the source told AFP, without giving the reason for
the request, adding that Riyadh had warned he “could be dangerous”.
Questions
are mounting in Germany about whether Friday’s attack in Magdeburg, which
killed five people, might have been preventable. Reports have emerged about
lapses in security, questionable immigration decisions and attempts by police
to confront the 50-year-old over threatening behaviour that were allegedly not
followed through.
Abdulmohsen,
a consultant psychiatrist, is being held in police custody on suspicion of
murder, attempted murder and grievous bodily harm.
Four women
and a nine-year-old boy were killed in the attack, when a black Mercedes SUV
ploughed 400 metres into crowds of people at the Christmas market in the centre
of Magdeburg, in eastern Germany. More than 230 people are now known to have
been injured in the three-minute attack, 41 of whom remain in a critical
condition. The injured figure was revised upwards on Monday, from a previous
number of about 200.
Holger
Münch, the head of Germany’s federal criminal police office, BKA, told German
television Germany had received a warning from Saudi Arabia last year, but on
investigation had found it too vague to act upon.
Police had
attempted to approach Abdulmohsen for a so-called “threat analysis” discussion,
but had apparently let the opportunity go after failing to find him at home.
His
reputation for posting threatening messages online and in person is at the
centre of the murder investigation. On Sunday, Christian Pegel, a state
interior minister, said the suspect had referred to the 2013 Islamist terror
attack on the Boston Marathon during a professional dispute at around that
time.
In
Magdeburg, where a sea of flowers and candles have been left at the site of the
attack, the city’s 240,000 residents are trying to come to terms with what
happened. City authorities criticised as “deeply disrespectful” the numerous
attempts to politicise the attack.
The
far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative für Deutschland, which is polling in
second place in the run-up to a snap election in February, has invited its
supporters to join a rally on the nearby cathedral square on Monday evening,
despite the fact that Abdulmohsen had repeatedly expressed his support for the
party and its affiliates on social media.
The AfD
leader Alice Weidel is due to address attendees. The main focus will be on
criticising the government’s immigration policies.
A
counter-demonstration entitled ‘Don’t give hate a chance’ is due to take place
at the same time, with participants being urged to form a human chain around
the city.
On Saturday,
far-right protesters from across Germany, dressed in black and disguising their
faces, gathered in Magdeburg, shouting – in reference to immigrants – “throw
them out”.
Germany’s
interior minister, Nancy Faeser, has urged parties across the political divide
to pull together and quickly pass laws on police reform and biometric
surveillance that are at risk of being sidelined, delayed or scrapped
altogether, following the collapse of the government last month.
In an
interview with Spiegel, Faeser said: “It’s clear we must do everything in order
to protect the people of Germany from such horrific acts of violence. To do
this, our security authorities need all the necessary powers as well as more
personnel.”
The
opposition conservatives said Germany urgently needed a review of domestic
security forces’ ability to access intelligence, in particular digital data,
and were scathing about the fact that too often authorities are dependent on
information from abroad to foil attacks on German soil.
“It cannot
be the case any longer that we are satisfied with the fact that information
about violent criminals and terrorists often only comes from foreign services,”
Günter Krings, the CDU’s justice spokesperson, told German media.
He said it
must be made easier for security services to apprehend dangerous people who are
brought to their attention before they have the chance to carry out attacks.
Security at
many Christmas markets around the country has been heightened following
Friday’s attack, in which the attacker used a corridor meant for emergency
vehicles to penetrate the market.
Police in
the north-western city of Bremerhaven said they had arrested a 67-year-old man
who had posted a TikTok video in which he had threatened to carry out knife
attacks on people with dark skin in his local market on Christmas Day.
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