International-News

Magdeburg Christmas market bombing: Saudi Arabia had requested extradition suspect

Riyadh had warned Germany about the dangerousness of the Saudi national involved in the attack that killed five people

A source close to the Saudi government revealed that Saudi Arabia had previously requested the extradition of Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen, the Saudi national suspected of being responsible for the deadly bombing at the Magdeburg Christmas market in Germany. Five people lost their lives in last Friday’s attack. Riyadh, according to the source, had warned German authorities “many times” about the man’s dangerousness, without specifying the details of those warnings.

Abdulmohsen, a 50-year-old psychiatrist, was already known to authorities for spreading death threats online and for previous legal problems. He had also helped some Saudi women flee their country, an activity that may have helped make him a sensitive subject for the Saudi government. On his social profiles, he called himself a victim of persecution, claiming to have renounced Islam and denouncing an alleged “Islamization” of Germany, which he believed was underway.

Abdulmohsen arrived in Germany in 2006 and was granted refugee status in 2016, according to German media and Saudi activists. The Saudi extradition request and warnings about the man’s dangerousness did not prevent the attack, leaving open questions about possible failures in monitoring the suspect.

THE LATEST NEWS