Police Arrest Man In Paris Soldier Stabbing, Say Attack Was Religiously Motivated
French police probe links to London's machete murder of a British soldier three days earlier.
FRANCE 24, LE MONDE (France)
PARIS –A 22-year-old man was arrested at dawn Wednesday on suspicion of being the culprit in the recent stabbing a French soldier in the wake of the London slaying of a British military guard.
Sources close to the authorities indicate the suspect is a “Muslim radical,” although the government remains careful to make any correlations with the London slashers, reports Le Monde.
Prosecutors at a midday press conference said the suspect confessed to the stabbing in the outlying Parisian business district, and said it was religiously motivated, France 24 reported.
The French soldier Cedric Cordiez, who was stabbed in the neck while patrolling a transport hub in Paris, has since been released from the hospital.
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La Défense RER station where the events occurred (Greenski)
French Interior Minister Manuel Valls remained prudent regarding any links with the fatal May 22 machete attack against a 22-year-old British soldier by men declaring it was revenge for wars in Muslim countries. Still Valls, as quoted by Le Monde, added that “someone tried to kill a soldier because he was a soldier.”
The suspect, who was apprehended at the home of a relative, has a criminal record (theft, robbery, weapons charges…). The investigators say they were able to identify him using fingerprints left at the scene, reports France 24.
