Germany: Magdeburg Christmas market attacker was identified as potential threat in 2015

The Saudi perpetrator of the attack on the Magdeburg Christmas market in Germany was identified by local authorities in the eastern state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania as a potential threat to the community in 2015, media reports said on Monday.

According to Mecklenburg-West Pomerania's Interior Ministry, state authorities informed the Joint Counter Terrorism Center, which is run by the federal and state governments and is headed by the Federal Criminal Police Office, on Feb. 6, 2015, about the Saudi suspect's possible intentions to carry out an attack.

The reason for the report by state authorities was the suspects' threats against the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Medical Association in April 2013 and a year later against a local authority in the northeastern city of Stralsund.

Saudi doctor Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen, the suspect in the Magdeburg Christmas market attack that killed five people and injured over 200 others, reportedly threatened to carry out actions that would draw international attention.

On Sunday, German authorities revealed that Saudi Arabia had warned them about the accused.

Holger Muench, head of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), told public broadcaster ZDF that the tip-off was received in Nov. 2023 and that proceedings were initiated in response.

Meanwhile, the German parliament (Bundestag) is expected to hold a special session on the deadly Magdeburg attack on Dec. 30.

Following the tragic attack, the Bundestag Interior Committee and the Parliamentary Control Committee for the Intelligence Services plan to discuss security and intelligence.

The suspect in the attack is a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who is described as anti-Islam and a supporter of the far-right and Zionism.

He came to Germany in 2006 and had been working as a psychiatrist in the town of Bernburg, south of Magdeburg.

His social media posts often expressed concerns about the rise of Islam in Germany. He shared posts in support of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, a far-right party opposed to Muslim immigration, and other anti-Islam groups in Europe. He is also said to have shared a map of the so-called "Greater Israel" that includes parts of the Turkish territory.