RIYADH: Saudi Arabia had warned German authorities about a man involved in a car-ramming attack on Friday evening, a Saudi source told Reuters.
A German security source said Saudi authorities had sent several tips in 2023 and 2024 and that these had been passed on to the relevant security authorities.
The attacker, who plowed into a Christmas crowd in the German city of Magdeburg, had posted extremist views on his personal X account that threatened peace and security.
The Kingdom condemned the attack on Saturday, which left at least five people dead and over 200 others injured. The driver was arrested at the scene shortly after the incident.
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement on Saturday, expressed its condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims and to the government, wishing those injured a swift recovery.
Saudi Arabia also reiterated its firm stance against all forms of violence.
The Muslim World League similarly condemned the attack, with the group reaffirming its stance against violence and all forms of terrorism.
In a statement, it also expressed ‘solidarity, heartfelt condolences, and sympathy to the families of the victims and the injured, as well as to the German community.’
German authorities are investigating the 50-year-old attacker who has lived in Germany for almost two decades in connection with the car-ramming.
The driver was arrested at the scene shortly after the incident. Police searched his home overnight.
The motive remained unclear and police have not yet named the suspect.
“What a terrible act it is to injure and kill so many people there with such brutality,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in the central city, where he laid a white rose at a church in honor of the victims.
