Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve
The 24-year-old computer science student, who was also
suspected in the death of a young woman whose body was found on Sunday
just ahead of his arrest, had been flagged as a risk last year and
earlier this year but there was no specific reason to open a judicial
investigation, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Wednesday.
A French security official, who was not authorized to
publicly release details, said the suspect — an Algerian who had lived
in France for several years — was arrested in Paris Sunday after he
apparently shot himself by accident and called for an ambulance. He was
waiting outside for first aid when police arrived at the scene. They
discovered a blood trail leading to his car, which contained loaded guns
and notes about potential targets.
"Documents were also found and they prove, without any
ambiguity, that the individual was preparing an imminent attack, in all
probability, against one or two churches," Cazeneuve said.
In the man's apartment, in southeastern Paris, more weapons
were found as well as Islamic extremist material, the official said.
There was no immediate evidence that the suspect had direct ties to any
organized groups, the official said.
Aurelie Chatelain, a 32-year-old Frenchwoman visiting Paris
for a training session for her work, was found shot to death on Sunday
morning in her car. The security official said Chatelain appeared to
have been killed at random and ballistics evidence linked her death to
the suspect.
"The terrorists target France to divide us" said Prime Minister Manuel Valls at a news conference Wednesday.
France has been on edge since the Jan. 7-9 attacks on the
satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket left 20
people dead, including the three gunmen. In that case, at least two of
the gunmen had been flagged to French intelligence — and the third had
been recently released from prison after serving a sentence involving
his ties to Islamic extremists — but surveillance was called off months
before the attack.
Posted by Ambassador T. Brikins
Posted by Ambassador T. Brikins
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