Germany charges Palestinian over Hamburg knife attack

BERLIN - 10 November 2017: German prosecutors said Friday they have charged a 26-year-old Palestinian asylum seeker with murder after his deadly knife rampage at a Hamburg supermarket in July, The Daily Mail reported on Friday.

The accused, named as Ahmad A., killed one and wounded six in the July assault, and was arrested after passers-by overpowered him.

"The results of the investigation show that the accused sought out his victims indiscriminately, retaliating against people, who in his view represent perpetrators of injustice targeting Muslims," said prosecutors.

"It was important to him to kill as many German nationals of the Christian faith as possible. He wanted his actions to be viewed in the context of an Islamist attack, and understood as a contribution to jihad worldwide," they added.

Investigators, however, did not find any evidence to suggest that A. was a member of the terrorist Daesh group, said the prosecution service, charging the man with murder, as well as six counts of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm.

Ahmad A. was to have been deported after his asylum application was rejected by authorities, but the process was held up by a lack of identity documents.