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CRIME

Syrian refugee stabs psychologist to death: police

A 27-year-old Syrian man was arrested on Wednesday after he stabbed and killed a refugee aid worker during an argument in a Red Cross therapy and counselling centre, police said.

Syrian refugee stabs psychologist to death: police
The Red Cross building where the stabbing took place. Photo: DPA.

The unnamed suspect, who also injured himself, was arrested shortly after the attack in Saarbrücken, near the French border, and was then hospitalized, police said.

The victim was a psychologist who worked with traumatized refugees, said the German Red Cross.

According to police, the suspect had gotten into an argument during a counselling session with the 30-year-old psychologist and stabbed him with a knife. The psychologist died of his injuries at the therapy centre. The reason for the conflict is still unclear, but police said they had ruled out terrorism.

Die Welt reported that the psychologist had himself immigrated to Germany, moving to the country from Iraq in 2005. The victim, Musaab al-T., completed his bachelor's degree in psychology in Saarbrücken and was finishing his master's degree.

“I was born and raised in war,” he had told the Saarbrücker Zeitung last year.

German Red Cross president Rudolf Seiters said he was “appalled and shocked” by the crime.

“All of the German Red Cross mourns the admirable worker,” Seiters added. “Our sympathy is with the family members.”

A spokesman from the Red Cross said that there is always a risk in working with people coming from war-torn countries. The state Red Cross in Saarland has about 2,500 full-time employees, and more than 6,000 volunteers.

Germany has taken in more than one million asylum seekers since 2015, about half of them from war-torn Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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