A police officer speaks with a man outside a cordoned-off area after a suspected attack in Magdeburg, Germany, on December 20 [Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo] The interior minister for Saxony-Anhalt, Tamara Zieschang, identified the suspect as a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia who arrived in Germany in 2006. He was previously unknown to security services. A police vehicle and officer near a Christmas market after a suspected attack in Magdeburg A police officer blocks a road near the scene of a suspected attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, on December 20 [Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo] Christmas markets are a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages in German-speaking parts of Europe. In Magdeburg, a city of about 240,000 residents, the market was set up in a town square, with stalls selling regional food and drink. “It’s a terrible tragedy. This is a catastrophe for the city of Magdeburg and for the state, and for German generally as well,” Haseloff said. “It is really one of the worst things one can imagine, particularly in connection with what a Christmas market should bring.”