Saudi officials reportedly warned Germany in 2007, citing concerns about the suspect’s radical views, including islamophobia [GETTY]
Saudi Arabia says it repeatedly warned Germany about Taleb al-Abdulmohsen – the suspect who drove a car into a Christmas market in Germany, where at least five people were killed.
Saudi officials first reportedly warned Germany in 2007, citing concerns about the suspect’s radical views, including islamophobia, according to CNN.
Saudi security officials told German media they had warned the Berlin authorities of the alleged attacker three times and requested extradition, which was refused over concerns for his safety.
According to German newspaper Die Welt, the state and federal police had carried out a “risk assessment” on the suspect last year but found he posed “no significant danger”.
At the same time, a source close to the Saudi government told the BBC that the country had sent four warnings to Germany over al-Abdulmohsen’s “very extreme views”, which were allegedly ignored.
Following the attack, the Kingdom condemned the attack and expressed solidarity with Germany after finding out the suspect was a Saudi national.
Writing on X, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Saudi “affirms its position in rejecting violence, and expresses its sympathy and sincere condolences to the families of the victim, and the government and people of the Federal Republic of Germany”.
Five people, including a nine-year-old boy and four women, were killed in the attack while over 200 were taken to 15 hospitals, with 41 seriously injured and many in intensive care. It is feared the death toll may rise.
The attack also came almost eight years after an attacker drove a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 and injuring 49.
Prosecutors said the suspect was under investigation for murder, attempted murder and bodily harm and tested positive for drugs.
Al-Adbulmohsen came to Germany as a refugee in 2016 after being reportedly threatened with death for abandoning Islam. The 50-year-old was a psychiatrist in a specialist medical clinic in Bernburg, 28 miles from Magdeburg.
He is an outspoken atheist and former Muslim who helped Saudis, particularly women, leave their country who no longer believed in Islam.
Nancy Faeser, the German interior minister, said the suspect held “Islamophobic” views, while prosecutors said he could have been angered by Germany’s treatment of Saudi Arabian refugees.
On his X account, the suspect described himself as “Saudi military opposition” while also writing that “Germany chases female Saudi asylum seekers, inside and outside Germany, to destroy their lives” and “Germany wants to Islamize Europe”. He also managed a Twitter account called “Saudi Ex-Muslims”.
The suspect reportedly boasted on social media that “something big will happen in Germany”.
It is believed Al-Abdulmohsen expressed support for anti-Islam figure Tommy Robinson, the far-right German AfD party, and right-wing billionaire Elon Musk, who has been promoting anti-immigrant views in recent months.
He has also expressed pro-Israel views and responded to tweets by the Israeli military’s Arabic-speaking official spokesman, Avichay Adraee. Al-Abdulmohsen has since been remanded into custody.