Germany investigates possible security lapses after Christmas market attack by Reuters

Written by Miranda Murray and Kirsty Knoll

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany searched on Monday for answers about possible security lapses after a man drove his car into a Christmas market, killing at least five people and putting new focus on security and immigration ahead of early elections.

The possible motive behind the arrest of the suspect, a 50-year-old Saudi psychiatrist with a history of anti-Islamic rhetoric and a sympathizer with the far-right Alternative for Germany party, remains unknown.

The man, identified as Talib A, had left video messages on his social media account X on the day of the attack.

In his turbulent comments, he blamed supposed German liberalism for the death of Socrates, the ancient Greek philosopher, and accused police of stealing a USB storage stick from him and destroying a criminal complaint he had filed.

Welt newspaper said that he had undergone psychological treatment.

As citizens mourned, left flowers and lit candles in Magdeburg, where the accident occurred on Friday, questions mounted about whether more could have been done and whether authorities could have acted on the warnings.

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Vizer called for the adoption of tougher internal security laws, including a new law to strengthen police forces as well as the introduction of biometric surveillance.

“It is clear that we must do everything in our power to protect the German people from these horrific acts of violence. To do this, our security authorities need all the necessary powers and more personnel,” Visser told the news magazine Spiegel.

The Deputy Chairman of the Security Committee in the Bundestag (Parliament) announced that he would hold a special session in which he would question the reason for not responding to previous warnings about the danger posed by Student A. Student A. He lives in Germany since 2006.

The attack occurred two months before early elections in February, where the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party is in second place and is particularly strong in eastern Germany, where the city of Magdeburg is located.

“I’ll put it this way: Everyone is dealing with this situation in their own way, some are sad, some are angry,” said Andreas Buhs, who was passing by the site of the Magdeburg attack where mourners laid out flowers, candles, dolls and other stuffed items. games.

“Everyone has the right to express their opinion and that should not be used for any political purposes here. But I know every political party does it in one way or another.”

AfD leaders plan to organize an event in Magdeburg on Monday evening.

“The discussion about new security laws must not distract from the fact that #Magdeburg would not have been possible without uncontrolled immigration,” AfD leader Alice Weidel wrote on social media. “The state must protect citizens through restrictive immigration policy and continued deportations!”

Also on Monday evening, an initiative organized under the slogan “Don’t give hate a chance” called for the formation of a human chain in Magdeburg.

A local hospital said it was still treating 72 injured people, including 15 in serious condition.

Previous warnings

The Christian Democratic Union, Germany’s main opposition party, which opinion polls indicate will form the next government, called for strengthening the intelligence services.

Holger Münch, head of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), told public broadcaster ZDF at the weekend that Germany was reviewing security measures at Christmas markets and addressing any vulnerabilities.

Munich said that Germany had received a warning from Saudi Arabia dating back to 2023 regarding the suspect, which the German authorities investigated but found to be ambiguous.

“The man also made a large number of posts on the Internet. He also made various contacts with the authorities, made insults and even threats. But he was not known for committing violent acts,” Munch said.

Taha Al-Hajji, a Saudi lawyer in exile and legal director of the Berlin-based European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, said most Saudi opposition activists did not have a good relationship with the suspect.

“He was always causing problems with everyone,” Al-Hajji said. “He was really isolated.”

“He felt that he was the only one right and that people were wrong, and he felt like he was the center of everything, and he was important. He always had problems with everyone.”