Pallade Veneta - Islamist motive suspected after Munich car ramming

The carnage on Thursday came on the eve of an international security conference in the Bavarian city, and shortly before Germans head to the polls for a February 23 election where immigration is a key issue following a spate of attacks blamed on migrants.

Initial assessments of evidence seized from electronic devices belonging to the suspect showed a "certain Islamist orientation", police spokesman Guido Limmer told reporters.

After the incident, the suspect uttered the words "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) to police officers and also prayed after his arrest, prosecutor Gabriele Tilmann added.

The 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker, identified by German media as Farhad N., is accused of deliberately driving a Mini Cooper into a trade union demonstration in Munich.

A total of 39 people were wounded in the incident, according to police.

Two are in a critical condition, including a child, and a further eight are in a serious condition, Limmer said.

Tilmann said the suspect had confessed to deliberately ramming the car into the crowd, citing "what I would summarise as a religious motivation".

- 'Very religious' -

Farhad N. was living in Germany legally, worked in security and was also heavily involved in fitness and bodybuilding, Tilmann said.

He was "very religious and also displayed this outwardly", regularly attending a mosque and making online "posts with religious references", she added.

However, "we have no evidence to suggest that the accused is involved in any Islamist organisation such as Islamic State", Tilmann said.

Initial investigations had also turned up "no evidence that he had mental health issues that could have had any impact on the crime", she said.

The suspect was remanded in custody on Friday and has been transferred to a prison, prosecutors said.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and several regional leaders visited the scene on Friday morning, all laying flowers.

"The brutality of this act has left us deeply disturbed and bewildered," Steinmeier said in a statement, noting that it appeared the suspect had "wanted to kill and injure people indiscriminately".

"The perpetrator is in custody and will be brought to justice in accordance with the law," he said.

The suspect was said to have arrived in Germany in 2016 at the height of the mass migrant influx to Europe.

- Tougher rules -

His asylum request was rejected by German authorities but he found work and was able to remain legally in the country, according to officials.

Germans are already locked in heated debates around immigration and security after a string of similar incidents, most recently in the Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg last month.

Two people, including a two-year-old boy, were killed in a knife attack on a kindergarten group, with police arresting a 28-year-old Afghan man with a history of mental illness.

In December, six people were killed after a car ploughed into a Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg, wounding hundreds.

A Saudi man was arrested for that attack, with officials saying he also appeared to be mentally disturbed.

The conservative CDU/CSU alliance, which polls suggest is on track to win this month's election, has called for tougher curbs on immigration after the recent attacks.

Under pressure even before the election was called, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government had moved to make asylum rules stricter and speed up deportations, including to Afghanistan.

H.Ercolani--PV