Far right and counter-protesters expected in Magdeburg

(Keystone-ATS) Even if the suspect's motives remain unclear, the carnage which left five dead, including a 9-year-old boy, and more than 200 injured has placed the questions of security and immigration at the heart of the campaign for the legislative elections. anticipated from February 23 in Germany.

Fifty-year-old Saudi psychiatrist Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen, arrested Friday evening, expressed views hostile to Islam, anger at German immigration officials and support for far-right accounts of a Islamization of Europe.

Saudi Arabia had already asked Berlin for the extradition of the Saudi, after warning several times that he “could be dangerous”, a source close to the government in Riyadh told AFP on Monday.

“Although the context of the terrible attack in Magdeburg has not yet been clarified, one thing is clear: there will be a 'before' and an 'after' in this electoral campaign,” judged the popular newspaper Bild, estimating that the attack will refocus “the campaign, until now focused on Germany's disastrous economic situation”, on security and migration issues.

“Fear and Anger”

The Alternative for Germany (AfD), a nationalist party, plans to demonstrate at 4 p.m. in this city in the northeast of the country, still in shock.

At the same time, a human chain organized by the initiative “Gib Hass keine Chance” (“Give no chance to hatred”) must form at the scene of the tragedy, close to the Johannis church whose square is covered a sea of ​​candles, multicolored flowers and stuffed animals in tribute to the victims.

“We note with horror and anger that people want to use this cruel act for their politics,” the initiative states.

Shortly after the attack, the AfD denounced the reception of hundreds of thousands of refugees in the country in recent years.

Alice Weidel, the co-president of this opposition party, insisted on Monday on her X account: “the debate on new security laws must not distract attention from the fact that Magdeburg would not have been possible without immigration uncontrolled,” she wrote.

Scholz sous pression

The government of Olaf Scholz promised on Sunday a rapid and thorough investigation to clarify possible errors by the authorities in preventing the attack.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser as well as senior officials will be heard on December 30 by the Bundestag's internal affairs committee, proof of the increased pressure from deputies on the chancellor, two months before the early election.

The profile of the alleged author is intriguing: Mina Ahadi, president of the Central Council of Former Muslims, describes him as an “ultra-right conspiracy-minded psychopath” who hates all those who do not share his hatred.

And according to sources in the local newspaper “Mitteldeutsche Zeitung”, his colleagues doubted his medical skills and nicknamed him “Doctor Google” because he regularly consulted the internet before issuing a diagnosis.

The debate also concerns the security measures taken by the local authorities on site. The alleged perpetrator was thus able to take an unsecured access route to the Christmas market and then drove into the crowd in a powerful rental BMW vehicle.

The city of Magdeburg defended itself by explaining that this opening was reserved for ambulances or firefighters in the event of an emergency.

However, the security of the Christmas markets had been considerably reinforced, in particular by the installation of concrete bollards at their entrances, after a similar act committed eight years ago on a Christmas market in Berlin, which left 13 dead.

“A security concept is only as strong as its weakest link,” said Peter Neumann, counterterrorism expert at the weekly Der Spiegel. “If one entry point is not protected, all the other concrete bollards are useless.”