Attacker Vienna had a ’radical sympathies’

VIENNA – The man who, in Vienna instak a soldier, had radical islamic sympathies. The authorities have the house, the man searched, and activities on the internet under the magnifying glass, made the ministry of the Interior known.

The 26-year-old man attacked Sunday a military outside the house of the Iranian ambassador. “The attacker stabbed the soldier several times. He was only saved by his steekwerende vest”, said a politiewoordvoerder Monday. The soldier shot his attacker then death.

The authorities find it is still too early to make statements about the motives of the attacker, an Austrian of Egyptian origin. “We have only been established that he has sympathy for political islam,” said director-general of Public Security Michaela Kardeis Tuesday.

Kardeis stressed emphatically to term “sympathy” to use, because it is still unclear whether the perpetrator is a jihadist or a radicalised muslim.