French police net suspect in stabbing case
Source: Agencies |
May 30, 2013, Thursday
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TRACES of DNA on an orange juice bottle and a surveillance video of a man praying in a mall led to the arrest yesterday of a young suspect accused of stabbing a French soldier who was patrolling a crowded area just outside Paris, officials said.
The attack came days after a British soldier was slain on a London street in broad daylight, raising fears of potential copycat strikes. France has also been on heightened security alert since its military intervention in January in the African nation of Mali to oust Islamic radicals.
The French soldier is recovering and has been released from the hospital.
The suspect was captured on camera offering a Muslim prayer in a busy shopping mall 10 minutes before he went after the soldier on Saturday at the La Defense financial and shopping district, French prosecutor Francois Molins said yesterday in Paris.
The 22-year-old French suspect, identified only by his first name Alexandre, bought the juice and the pocketknife used in the attack an hour beforehand, Molins said.
"The intent to kill is obvious. The suspect doesn't hesitate to stab several times with impressive determination," Molins said.
The suspect was arrested outside Paris at the house of a friend who has not been implicated.
"The suspect implicitly confessed when he told police 'I know why you're here,'" Molins said. "The nature of the attack, the fact that it happened three days after the London attack and a prayer that was carried shortly before the attack make us believe that he acted in the name of his religious ideology and that his wish was to attack someone representing the state."
The suspect, who was unemployed and homeless, was identified through DNA on a plastic juice bottle, said Christophe Crepin, spokesman for the police union UNSA.
Molins said the man came under scrutiny after a street prayer in 2007 and authorities had his DNA profile on record after a series of petty crimes as a minor. He converted to radical Islam around age 18, Molins said.
Police will be investigating the suspect's Internet searches, his travels and contacts to determine whether Alexandre acted alone or was part of a network, said Louis Caprioli, France's former top anti-terrorism official.
"The early indications seem to suggest he acted alone," said Caprioli. This would be the first time a French Muslim convert committed a lone-wolf style terrorist act, rather than as part of a terrorist network, Caprioli said.
Lone wolf attacks are the most alarming, Caprioli said, "because it's completely unpredictable."
The attack came days after a British soldier was slain on a London street in broad daylight, raising fears of potential copycat strikes. France has also been on heightened security alert since its military intervention in January in the African nation of Mali to oust Islamic radicals.
The French soldier is recovering and has been released from the hospital.
The suspect was captured on camera offering a Muslim prayer in a busy shopping mall 10 minutes before he went after the soldier on Saturday at the La Defense financial and shopping district, French prosecutor Francois Molins said yesterday in Paris.
The 22-year-old French suspect, identified only by his first name Alexandre, bought the juice and the pocketknife used in the attack an hour beforehand, Molins said.
"The intent to kill is obvious. The suspect doesn't hesitate to stab several times with impressive determination," Molins said.
The suspect was arrested outside Paris at the house of a friend who has not been implicated.
"The suspect implicitly confessed when he told police 'I know why you're here,'" Molins said. "The nature of the attack, the fact that it happened three days after the London attack and a prayer that was carried shortly before the attack make us believe that he acted in the name of his religious ideology and that his wish was to attack someone representing the state."
The suspect, who was unemployed and homeless, was identified through DNA on a plastic juice bottle, said Christophe Crepin, spokesman for the police union UNSA.
Molins said the man came under scrutiny after a street prayer in 2007 and authorities had his DNA profile on record after a series of petty crimes as a minor. He converted to radical Islam around age 18, Molins said.
Police will be investigating the suspect's Internet searches, his travels and contacts to determine whether Alexandre acted alone or was part of a network, said Louis Caprioli, France's former top anti-terrorism official.
"The early indications seem to suggest he acted alone," said Caprioli. This would be the first time a French Muslim convert committed a lone-wolf style terrorist act, rather than as part of a terrorist network, Caprioli said.
Lone wolf attacks are the most alarming, Caprioli said, "because it's completely unpredictable."
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