Islamist attacker had firearms license
Print Edition
QUESTIONS were being asked yesterday over how a known radical Islamist who rammed a car laden with weapons and gas canisters into a police van on Paris’s Champs-Elysees was able to hold a firearms license.
Adam Djaziri, a 31-year-old who had been on a watchlist for radical Islamists since 2015, was killed on Monday afternoon as his car smashed into the van on the French capital’s most famous avenue.
Two handguns and a Kalashnikov-style assault rifle were found in the car, while a weapons stash was found at his home.
Djaziri’s father, who has since been detained, said his son practiced shooting as a sport, and a source close to the investigation said he had nine registered weapons including pistols and an assault rifle.
The head of the French Shooting Federation said police had visited Djaziri’s shooting club to ask about him — implying they knew about his interest in guns.
The attempted attack came with France still under a state of emergency after a wave of jihadist assaults that have left more than 230 people dead since 2015.
As the month-old government of President Emmanuel Macron prepares to unveil a tougher anti-terrorism law, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe expressed dismay that Djaziri was able to have a gun permit.
“What I know at this stage is that the first weapons permit was given before this individual was flagged up,” he said in an interview with BFM television and RMC radio, but he added that “no one can be satisfied” that Djaziri was able to possess dangerous weapons after being put on a watchlist.
French Shooting Federation chief Philippe Crochard said Djaziri had been licensed for six years, and a source close to the investigation said the attacker had requested a renewal of his permit in February.
“Two policemen came in October 2016 and asked questions about this person. It isn’t normal procedure, so I assume they had their reasons,” Crochard said.
Djaziri’s ex-wife, brother and sister-in-law were also detained late on Monday after police questioned them at the family home in Plessis-Pate, south of Paris.
Raised in a strictly Salafist Muslim family, Djaziri had no criminal record but caught the attention of authorities after several trips to Turkey — a route used by European fighters heading to Syria — which he said were for work.
Burn marks were found on Djaziri’s body but it is not yet clear how he died, a source close to the investigation said. There were no other casualties from the attempted attack, and no group claimed responsibility.
Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said the incident “shows once again that the threat level remains extremely high in France.”
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