Syrian man charged with attempted murder in Berlin Holocaust Memorial stabbing

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BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s top prosecutor has filed charges against a Syrian man in connection with a stabbing attack at Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial in February that seriously wounded a Spanish tourist.

The suspect sought to use the alleged crime to join the militant Islamic State group, the federal prosecutor said. The charges were filed July 18 and announced Tuesday.

The man, who was only identified as Wassim Al M. in line with German privacy rules, allegedly sent a photo of himself to members of the group before the stabbing to give the militants the opportunity to claim responsibility for the crime, authorities said.

He was allegedly seeking to kill Jews in the attack, officials said. He is charged with attempted murder, dangerous bodily harm and attempted membership in a terrorist organization abroad.

The man, then 19 years old, was arrested nearly three hours after the Feb. 21 attack when he approached officers with blood on his hands and clothes. He has remained in custody since then.

The attack took place two days before a German national election that saw migration become a critical issue, pushed to the forefront by five deadly attacks involving immigrants in the nine months leading up to the vote.

The violence occurred at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, a field of 2,700 gray concrete slabs near the Brandenburg Gate in the heart of Berlin, which honors the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust under the direction of Nazi Germany.

The suspect arrived in Germany in 2023 as an unaccompanied minor and successfully applied for asylum, investigators said. He lived in Leipzig.