ONE of the assailants who slit the throat of an elderly French priest had dreamed of going to Syria and threatened to attack churches but rarely visited his local mosque, neighbors said.
Advertisement
“We must be merciless”, Sarkozy said in a statement to reporters.
‘What terrorists want is to divide us, separate us, set us against each other, ‘ he said.
A family member had raised the alarm after Kermiche went missing destined for war-torn Syria in March 2015.
During Tuesday’s attack on the church, 85-year-old priest Jacques Hamel had his throat slit and another parishioner was seriously wounded. Authorities have already warned that new attacks are being planned in France and other European countries, and we must be ready to respond accordingly. It has prioritised targeting France, which has been bombing the group’s bases in Iraq and Syria as part of a USA -led worldwide coalition.
One of the assailants was a known would-be jihadist awaiting trial under supposedly tight surveillance, a revelation that raised pressure over the Socialist government’s response to a wave of attacks claimed by Islamic State since early in 2015.
Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Kermiche first came to the attention of authorities in March a year ago when a member of his family notified authorities that he was missing.
One of Kermiche’s acquaintances, a youngster from the area of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, told Le Parisien newspaper that he was a “hyperactive child” who was excluded from school at the age of 12 due to “behavior issues” – adding that he was a “time bomb”.
Upon the terms of his release, Kermiche was fitted with an electronic bracelet, which reportedly allowed him to leave his house on weekdays for between four and five per day.
After being returned to France, he then fled again, this time to Turkey, where he was arrested once again and held in custody until March this year.
Since his release, Kermiche had been living with his parents and wearing an electronic tag.
Kermiche’s companion has not yet been identified, according to Paris prosecutor François Molins, who spoke on Tuesday evening. Seven are on pre-trial bail.
Advertisement
Since the Bastille Day killings in Nice, there has been a spate of attacks in Germany too.
