Paris suspect admits stabbing
May 29, 2013
A man arrested on suspicion of stabbing a French solider over the weekend has admitted to the Paris attack. The Paris prosecutor has said the attack was religiously motivated.
At a press conference in Paris on Wednesday, prosecutor Xavier Molins said the suspect had acted based on his "religious ideology" and had "admitted to the act."
The prosecutor's statement came just a few hours after a man was apprehended on Wednesday morning in the town of La Verriere, roughly 45 kilometers (28 miles) west of the French capital. The suspect, identified as Alexandre, turns 22 on Thursday.
Molins added that Alexandre had a "fairly clear intent to kill" when he carried out the attack on a soldier Saturday evening in La Defense [a Paris business district].
On Saturday, the 23-year-old French soldier was jumped from behind and stabbed in the neck. The soldier had been on patrol with at least two other colleagues near a popular weekend shopping spot in the La Defense business district of Paris (pictured above). The victim was released from the hospital on Monday.
It remains unclear whether the Paris attack had any links to the murder of a British soldier earlier this month. Two men killed 25-year-old Lee Rigby in broad daylight in Woolwich, south London in a revenge attack for military operations in Muslim countries. Police later shot and placed the assailants, Michael Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Abedowale, 22, under arrest.
The two incidents have worried authorities around the globe that copy cat attacks will follow.
kms/mz (AP, AFP, Reuters)