On Monday, the interior committee of the German parliament will interrogate security and intelligence officials about potential shortcomings that may have preceded a deadly attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg.
An man drove a leased BMW sport utility vehicle through a crowd of revelers, killing five individuals and injuring almost 200 more.
At the site, police detained Taleb A., a 50-year-old Saudi psychiatrist.
The apparent missed hints and security lapses before to the incident on December 20 in the eastern city of Magdeburg are up for debate.
Those to be questioned include German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and representatives of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, which has Magdeburg as its capital.
Saudi Arabia claimed to have informed German authorities about the suspect, A., on several occasions. The suspect had a history of run-ins with the law and court appearances in Germany. Ten years after arriving in Germany in 2006, A. was awarded refugee status.
Although A. had previously shown strong anti-Islamic beliefs and connections with the far right, the Magdeburg incident was similar to earlier terrorist attacks in Berlin and Nice, France, in 2016.
