Francois Molins had said earlier on Thursday that Bouhlel had planned the attack for months and carried it out with the assistance of the five suspects.
Advertisement
A lawyer for one of five suspects given preliminary terrorism charges in the case says he believes Bouhlel radicalised alone.
The five suspects include Tunisian nationals Chokri C., 37, and Mohamed Oualid G, aged 40.
French anti-terrorism prosecutor Francois Molins delivers a press conference at the courthouse of Nice on July 15, 2016, a day after a gunman smashed a truck into a crowd of revellers celebrating Bastille Day, killing at least 84 people.
It asks the council to “proceed with the complete destruction of footage from all cameras used on the Promenade des Anglais”, where 84 people were killed by Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel when he drove a lorry through crowds of people during Bastille Day celebrations.
FILE – In this file screen grab made available on Wednesday, July 20, 2016, taken from video made available showing Nice, France, attacker Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, right, while competing in a martial arts competition in 2010.
Ramzi was on Nice’s seaside Promenade des Anglais the night that Bouhlel’s truck careened down the cordoned-off boulevard.
Hollande said Friday the equipment will be in place next month, as part of French efforts to boost its participation in the US -led fight against IS.
Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was shot dead by police and all of the names mentioned in phone messages recovered by investigators are covered by the four men – including Tunisian Chokri C – and one women who have been charged. Although of Tunisian descent, Bouhlel was born and raised in France had a background of petty-criminality; however, he did not have a background with militant Islam and was unknown to secret services. Investigations found photos, text messages and telephone records indicating Bouhlel was in contact with alleged accomplices for a year.
The paper said police and prosecutors wanted footage of the attack destroyed to preserve the dignity of victims and so it could not be used by jihadists for propaganda purposes.
The newspaper Libération reported Thursday that only one municipal police vehicle was positioned at the spot where Lahouaiej Bouhlel barreled through and on to the promenade, and it said that although state and city officials had agreed on – and stuck to – a security plan for Bastille Day, the government misrepresented those measures after the attack.
The revelations come as the French government continues to be plagued by questions over possible security failings, prompting authorities to launch an investigation into potential oversights. “They have brought in the soldiers of Allah to finish the job”.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve’s clarification comes after a newspaper accused French authorities of lacking transparency in their handling of the massacre.
Advertisement
The French Parliament this week extended the state of emergency in place since the November Paris attacks for a fourth time.
