German-Russian, 70, stabs Afghan, Syrian, Iraqi refugees

BERLIN: A 70-year-old man has been arrested accused of "politically motivated" attempted murder days after attacking three asylum seekers with a knife, German police said on Thursday.

The bloody attack took place outside a church in the western city of Heilbronn last Saturday, leaving a 17-year-old Afghan badly wounded and an Iraqi and Syrian man, 25 and 19, injured. The suspect, a German-Russian dual national who was drunk at the time of the attack, was overpowered with the help of passers-by until police arrived and detained him.

He was initially charged with assault and released but on Wednesday prosecutors raised the charge to "politically motivated" attempted murder and issued a formal arrest warrant.

The man was rearrested on Wednesday after police had further questioned the victims, witnesses and the suspect, police said in a statement. The suspect told police he was angered by Germany´s asylum policy that brought more than a million refugees and migrants to the country in recent years, police said.