Suspected Saudi Refugee, Labeled as Atheist, Linked to Germany Attack
In the heart of Saxony-Anhalt, a region 130 kilometres west of Berlin, a tragic event unfolded on a chilly Friday night. Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen, a Saudi psychiatrist who had been living and working in the region since 2006, is suspected of deliberately ploughing into a crowd of Christmas revellers at a market in Magdeburg, resulting in five deaths and over 200 injuries.
Authorities in Germany have not confirmed whether the attack was an Islamist attack, but they have stated that the date, which marked eight years to the day after a similar attack on a Christmas market in Berlin that killed 13 people, was not a coincidence.
Abdulmohsen, known for helping asylum seekers, particularly women, in the Saudi diaspora in Germany, was a "pariah" among the Saudi community in the country despite his work. He had been granted refugee status in Germany 10 years after his arrival in 2006.
In an unpublished interview from 2022, Abdulmohsen identified as a "Saudi atheist". In social media posts, he portrayed himself as a victim of persecution who had renounced Islam and decried what he said was the Islamization of Germany. He also criticized strict Islamic upbringing as the cause of Muslims' problems, particularly for women.
Last August, Abdulmohsen posted on social media about the lack of a peaceful path to justice in Germany and threatened potential violence against German citizens and embassies. Taha Al-Hajji, legal director of the Berlin-based European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights, described Abdulmohsen as "psychologically disturbed" with an "exaggerated sense of self-importance".
German authorities and the interior minister described Abdulmohsen as close to far-right extremist ideologies, massively Islamophobic, and influenced by conspiracy theories. His erratic behavior had been noted by law enforcement on over 100 occasions before the attack. This incident heightened immigration debates and boosted the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party's popularity.
Abdulmohsen came from a Shiite family in the village of Hofuf in the predominantly Shiite province of al-Ahsa, in the east of Saudi Arabia. He practised as a psychiatrist in the town of Bernburg, near Magdeburg. Some media outlets have reported links between Abdulmohsen and the far-right in Germany.
The attack occurred in northern Germany, but the exact location was not specified in the provided information. Prosecutors attributed Abdulmohsen's actions to frustration over legal troubles. The authorities have not confirmed whether the attack was an Islamist attack, but they have stated that the date was not a coincidence.
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/01/world/europe/germany-saudi-psychiatrist-christmas-market-attack.html [2] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63897960 [3] https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/saudi-psychiatrist-charged-with-christmas-market-attack-in-magdeburg-a-131242415.html [4] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/01/saudi-psychiatrist-charged-over-christmas-market-attack-in-magdeburg-germany
- In the aftermath of the tragic attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg, the general-news media has reported that German authorities view Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen, the suspect, as having being influenced by far-right extremist ideologies.
- As the investigation into the motivation behind Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen's attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg continues, many have asked whether his controversial statements about Islam and Germany, often made in politics-tinged social media posts, played a role in his actions.
