FRANKFURT, Germany: A German court on Saturday ordered a 25-year-old man born in Afghanistan held on suspicion of attempted murder in connection with a knife attack at an event organized by a group opposing “political Islam” that left six people injured.
The victims included a police officer who remained hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after he was stabbed while trying to intervene, police and prosecutors said in a joint statement.
Officials offered no information regarding the motive for the attack on Friday on the central square in Mannheim.
A statement from police and prosecutors said that the suspect had lived in Germany since 2014, was married and has two children. His apartment in the town of Heppenheim was searched Friday night and police recovered digital devices whose contents were being evaluated.
Officials said that the suspect, who was shot and wounded by police, was hospitalized and not in a condition to be questioned. They said he had no prior police record.
They haven’t disclosed the suspect’s citizenship or immigration status or how he came to Germany.
The group, Pax Europa, describes itself as an organization that informs the public about the dangers posed by the “increasing spread and influence of political Islam.” Michael Stürzenberger, an anti-Islamist activist who is one of the group’s leading figures and has spoken at its events, was among those wounded.
Stürzenberger, 59, posted a picture of himself on his Telegram channel from his hospital bed, showing a long, bandaged cut on his upper lip and cheek. He said he had suffered “significant blood loss” from a stab wound in his thigh as well as a cut on his jaw that had been stapled shut.
The other victims were five men ages 25, 36, 42, and 54. The 25-year-old man has been released from the hospital, while the others were still be treated. The 54-year-old man suffered injuries that were initially life-threatening, but he was now out of danger.
German court orders man born in Afghanistan held after knife attack at an anti-political Islam event
https://arab.news/y8hkd
German court orders man born in Afghanistan held after knife attack at an anti-political Islam event
- A statement from police and prosecutors said that the suspect had lived in Germany since 2014, was married and has two children
- Officials said that the suspect, who was shot and wounded by police, was hospitalized and not in a condition to be questioned
Bangladesh’s leading contender for PM returns after 17 years in exile
DHAKA: Millions of supporters crowded the streets of Dhaka on Thursday to welcome Tarique Rahman, acting chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, who has returned to his country after more than 17 years in exile.
Rahman, the son of ailing former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, waved to the large crowds from the front of a BNP bus escorted by security, as people lined the route from the capital’s airport to a reception venue, waving national and party flags, chanting slogans and carrying banners and flowers.
His return comes in the wake of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ouster last year and as Bangladesh gears up to hold general elections in February, for which he is emerging as a leading contender to become prime minister.
“As a member of the BNP, I want to say in front of you that I have a plan for the people of my country, for my country,” Rahman said as he addressed a throng of supporters in Dhaka.
“This plan is for the interest of the people of the country, for the development of the country and for changing the fate of the people. For this, I need support from each and every one of this country. If you people stand beside us, God willing, we would be able to implement those plans.”
The 60-year-old lived in London after he fled Bangladesh in 2008 over what he called a politically motivated persecution.
After facing multiple criminal convictions in Bangladesh, including money laundering and charges linked to an alleged plot to assassinate Hasina, courts acquitted him following Hasina’s removal from office, clearing the legal obstacles that delayed his return.
Rahman’s homecoming is “significant” as it comes as Bangladesh is going through a “very critical political crisis,” said analyst Prof. Dilara Choudhury.
“People of Bangladesh, they are expecting that there will be free and fair elections, and whoever wins will form the government and forward to the transition. In that sense, his return is significant.”
Bangladesh will hold parliamentary elections on Feb. 12, its first vote since a student-led uprising removed Hasina and her Awami League-led government from power in August 2024.
The South Asian nation of nearly 175 million people has since been led by interim leader Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, who took over governance after Hasina fled to India, where she is now in self-exile.
As the Yunus-led administration has banned Awami League from all activities, meaning the former ruling party would not be able to join the upcoming race, the BNP is on course to win the largest number of parliamentary seats, according to a survey published in December by the US-based International Republican Institute.
“I believe a new era in our politics will start with the arrival of Tarique Rahman in the country,” political analyst Mahbub Ullah told Arab News.
“He will take the realms of his party with his own hand and he will do all kinds of things to organize the party and lead the party to victory in the next election.”
