The officials said Riyadh warned the German authorities the suspected attacker, Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a Saudi dissident who described himself as an ex-Muslim, had boasted on social media that “something big will happen in Germany”. It was unclear if police ever acted upon the warnings.

More recordings of the attack at the Christmas market in Magdeburg are appearing online. Some of them capture the moment the attacker is apprehended. The perpetrator was kneeling by his car while police officers aimed a gun at him.

The man suspected of driving a car into a Christmas market in Germany is an exiled Saudi doctor who praised far-Right politicians for combating the “Islamisation” of Europe and pledged to take “revenge” for the “harassment” of female refugees.

A Saudi doctor was investigated as the driver in a car-ramming attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, leaving five dead and many injured. The incident has intensified debate on security and immigration ahead of German elections.

Saudi Arabia had warned Germany about the man suspected of carrying out the incident at the Magdeburg Christmas market, according to Saudi Arabian security sources. Saudi Arabia requested the extradition of the suspect,

The perpetrator of the attack at the Magdeburg market had previously attracted the attention of authorities multiple times over the years. He had threatened to commit crimes and was sentenced to 90 days in prison.