Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The arrested suspect in the deadly car-ramming attack at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg had plans to target Saudi ambassador to Germany, according to media reports.

A Saudi source told "Independent Arabia" newspaper that Talib Al-Abdul Mohsen, the suspect, had offered a reward of SR10,000 to anyone who provides information about the location of Saudi ambassador's residence and time of his presence at residence. The Saudi embassy passed this information to the German authorities but they did not take the matter seriously, the newspaper reported.

The suspect in Friday night's attack is a 50-year-old man from Saudi Arabia, who has been living in Germany since 2006. He was a staunch critic of Islam and had voiced support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on social media platform X. The German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told reporters on Saturday that the suspect was Islamophobic. “This was clear to see,” Faeser said.

The suspect intentionally drove into a crowded Christmas market, killing at least five people, including a child, and injuring over 200 others. Authorities arrested him at the scene, next to the battered SUV that had ploughed through the festive crowd leaving a trail of carnage and bloodied casualties.

The suspect faces charges of murder and attempted murder, police said on Sunday, after the man was remanded in custody. A magistrate ordered the man into pretrial custody after prosecutors pressed charges of murder on five counts, multiple counts of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm, according to a police statement.

The German newspaper "Bild" reported that the accused, a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy, has been working in Bernburg, south of Magdeburg. A few weeks ago, the suspect posted disturbing messages in Arabic on X website, in which he wrote: "I assure you that if Germany wants war, we will fight it, and if Germany wants to kill us, we will slaughter them, die or go to prison with pride."

His public statements mostly revolve around hatred of Islam and revenge for what he claimed was Germany's desire to Islamize Europe.

In a statement on Saturday, the Saudi Foreign Ministry expressed the Kingdom's condemnation of the attack in Germany, expressing its solidarity with the German people and the families of the victims.