Germany’s Christmas market attacker identity sparks debate – Ex-Muslims deny he was one of them: A pattern of deception and impact on genuine ex-Muslims

From Op India

On 20th December, a 50-year-old Saudi-born doctor identified as Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen rammed a BMW car into the crown at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany. The incident claimed lives of five people and left over 200 injured. Several of the injured individuals are in critical condition. The German authorities are examining the motive behind the attack. Taleb, who identified himself as an ex-Muslim atheist on social media, has sparked global outrage with his actions. Notably, the ex-Muslim community has come forward and raised serious concerns about his claimed identity as an ex-Muslim atheist.

Taleb fled Saudi Arabia in 2006. He publicly identified himself as an ex-Muslim atheist. He used this persona to get asylum in Germany citing possible persecution in his homeland. However, prominent ex-Muslims have raised concerns over the said identity and pointed out inconsistencies in his behaviour. The ex-Muslim community is now suggesting that Taleb was using the “label” strategically for his personal gains.

German ex-Muslim atheist Ali Utlu has accused Talen of duplicitous behaviour. In a statement, Utlu said, “He acted as an ex-Muslim publicly while threatening others, especially Saudi women, in private. . . We organized ex-Muslims openly say that he practiced taqiyya. If someone was as Islamophobic as him, wouldn’t he try to kill Muslims in an attack instead of Christians at a Christmas market?”

Similar accounts were shared by Canadian ex-Muslim activist Yasmine Mohammed who described Taleb as “unstable” and aggressive. She alleged that Taleb targeted female activists from Saudi Arabia. He even sought Yasmine’s help to “expose” one such woman. She expressed suspicion that Taleb might have collaborated with the Saudi authorities to undermine female dissidents.

Some ex-Muslims have suggested that Taleb might have employed Taqiyya. As Taleb belonged to Shia community, those who are sceptic that he was an ex-Muslim, believe that his actions fall in line with Taqiyya.

In 2016, ten years after Taleb fled Saudi Arabia, Germany granted him asylum. His persona of an ex-Muslim played a significant role in getting asylum status. There were allegations of terrorism, rape and smuggling against Taleb in Saudi Arabia and the authorities sought his extradition. However, German authorities refused his extradition…

Reportedly, a woman had alerted authorities that Taleb had threatened to carry out a terror attack. However, no significant action was taken on the woman’s revelations about Taleb’s intentions. It is possible that his carefully curated image of an ex-Muslims influences the authorities leading to leniency in his case leaving room for the recent attack to happen.

The incident has raised serious concerns among the genuine ex-Muslims. . . Yasmine Mohammed … said, “This path to asylum was already fraught with challenges. Now it’s harder.”

His refusal to engage with prominent ex-Muslim individuals including Brother Rachid raised suspicions among the ex-Muslim community. Brother Richard is a veteran interviewer. He noted that Taleb repeatedly avoided tough questions about his stance. He said, “He always had excuses, citing temporary medical conditions.”

Furthermore, there have been allegations that he had extremist tendencies. Many from the ex-Muslim community believe that Taleb manipulated his persona for personal and ideological gains. The Magdeburg attack, targeting a Christmas market, appears to align more closely with extremist Islamist motives than those of a genuine ex-Muslim atheist.

Notably, this case has once again brought forward the methods used by asylum seekers to seek refuge in Western countries. Asylum policies, identity verification and methodology of granting asylum has come under scrutiny. There are broader implications of ideological manipulations as in such cases identification of possible threats go unchecked.

I would be interested to see what the German Police/Security Service find in his home and on his computer.