Police have not publicly named the suspect, who was named in German media as Taleb A. However, the BBC identified him from a BBC documentary he had been interviewed for in 2019, as a doctor from Saudi Arabia who was interviewed by the broadcaster in 2019 as part of several media interviews reporting on his activist work helping Saudi Arabians who had turned their back on Islam to flee to Europe.
He is a fierce critic of Islam in the documentary and other interviews he took part in that year, telling Germany’s FAZ newspaper: “There is no good Islam.”
A woman holds a candle as they pay tribute to the victims of the ‘Alter Markt’ Christmas market. REUTERS/Annegret HilsePeople leave candles and floral tributes near the ‘Alter Markt’ Christmas market. REUTERS/Annegret HilseThe suspect had worked as a psychiatrist at a specialist rehabilitation clinic for criminals with addictions in Bernburg since March 2020. “Since the end of October 2024, he has been absent due to holiday and illness,” the facility said in a statement.
The suspect lived on a quiet street near the centre of Bernburg, a town of 30,000, south of Magdeburg, in a three-storey apartment block.
The local prosecutor in Magdeburg, Horst Nopens, said a possible factor in the attack may have been the suspect’s “dissatisfaction with the treatment of Saudi refugees in Germany” but added that the motive remained unclear.
Timeline of horror: How the Magdeburg Christmas market car attack unfolded
Read MoreHe also accused German authorities of failing to do enough to combat what he referred to as the “Islamification of Europe”.
He told the BBC in 2019 he spent up to 16 hours a day on the platform and that 90 per cent of the people he helped were women aged between 18 and 30.
After evaluating the statements, the officials are said to have concluded that the suspect’s statements did not pose a concrete threat.
The president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz were among those to attend a memorial service for the victims at Magdeburg Cathedral on Saturday, which city officials estimate was attended by around a thousand people, including firefighters and first responders, and the families of the people killed and injured.
Additional reporting by agencies
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( What we know about the Magdeburg Christmas market attack suspect )
Also on site :