Reports indicate Riyadh even sought the alleged perpetrator’s extradition, but received no response.
Multiple news outlets reported Saturday that Taleb A., a Saudi national suspected of the deadly Magdeburg Christmas market attack, had prior encounters with law enforcement. His home country’s extradition requests, however, were ignored.
According to DPA, Saudi Arabia alerted German authorities about the man approximately a year prior. The specifics of this warning remain undisclosed. The kingdom’s security sources informed the news agency that Riyadh also requested the extradition of the 50-year-old doctor, but Berlin failed to respond.
Reuters reports that German security sources confirmed multiple warnings from Saudi Arabia concerning the suspect’s openly expressed extremist views on Twitter. Taleb A. is described as a radical anti-Islamist who publicly renounced his religion.
Residing in Germany since 2006, the suspect only gained protected status in 2016. Prior to this, Spiegel reported that he had a legal brush with German authorities in 2013, convicted of “disturbance of public peace by threatening crimes.”
He received a fine of approximately €900 and was allowed to remain in Germany, reportedly due to concerns he might face “immediate execution” upon repatriation. This conviction seemingly did not impact his asylum application.
On Friday evening, the suspect allegedly drove into a crowd at Magdeburg’s Christmas market, resulting in at least five deaths, including a child, and approximately 200 injuries, with 41 in serious or critical condition.
Authorities stated Saturday that the attack’s motive remains unclear. However, Magdeburg Prosecutor Horst Nopens suggested the suspect’s dissatisfaction with Berlin’s handling of Saudi refugees may have been a contributing factor. The prosecution stated the attacker now faces five counts of murder and over 200 counts of attempted murder.