by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News August 26, 2024
An asylum seeker from Syria has confessed to the knife attack at the “Festival of Diversity” in Solingen, Germany that killed three and wounded eight, German authorities said on Sunday.
The suspect, identified only as “Issa Al H” due to German privacy laws, was motivated by “radical Islamist convictions” and attacked people at the festival who he perceived to be non-believers, directing repeated stabs at their necks and upper bodies, prosecutors say.
Authorities were also investigating the man’s apparent ties to the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group.
Despite prosecutors revealing the attacker’s motive, some German lawmakers were focused on blaming the weapon used by the attacker.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser called for the law to be changed so that only blades of 6 centimeters (2.36 inches) would be allowed to be carried in public, rather than the current 12 centimeters. An exception would be made for household knives in their original packaging. Switchblades would be banned altogether.
“Knives are used to commit brutal acts of violence that can cause serious injury or death,” Faeser said. “We need tougher weapons laws and stricter controls.”
ISIS claimed the assailant was acting as the group’s “soldier,” and posted a video that purportedly shows the 26-year-old holding a long knife as he swears his loyalty to the group’s leader, and says he’s chosen to kill as many non-believers as possible at Solingen’s Festival of Diversity. He says he’s from Deir al-Zor, an eastern Syria city on the Euphrates where ISIS is still active.
Der Spiegel reported that the attacker arrived in Germany in late 2022 and requested asylum. Under European asylum rules, he was supposed to be Bulgaria’s responsibility. When German authorities sought to transfer him to Bulgaria in June 2023, he’d gone into hiding.
No warrant for the man’s apprehension was issued as he was apparently deemed harmless. There was also a logistical consideration, as Germany was essentially out of space to hold detainees. By August of last year, the transfer deadline had passed and he was Germany’s problem alone. Rather than arresting and deporting him, the country granted him protection and moved him to Solingen, where he carried out his attack on Friday.
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The attack has intensified the country’s immigration debate as critical elections approach on Sept. 1.
The German states of Saxony and Thuringia, where polls indicate the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party may become the first or second-most prominent party. Center-right and right-wing parties said the bloodshed should convince Germans to elect politicians who want to cut off the flow of third-world immigrants to the country.
“If Solingen is not the turning point for the coalition, then I don’t know what else has to happen for some people here to finally come to their senses,” said Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Friedrich Merz.
Syrian asylum seeker confesses to triple murder at ‘Festival of Diversity’ in Germany added by Editor Two on
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