Shouts of “Murderers!” and “Resign!” rang out as Valls and two ministers left the seafront where a huge crowd gathered for a minute’s silence to remember the 85 people mowed down on July 14 by truck driver Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, an AFP reporter said.
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Pradal said the attack in Nice, which follows two mass killings by Islamic extremists in Paris previous year, shows that his city represents a particular target for extremists because of its long history as a Mediterranean melting pot that is tolerant of all nationalities and religions.
The attacker’s computer records showed a “sure and recent interest for radical jihadist movements”, Molins said, adding that Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had also consulted articles on fatal accidents including a report from Nice Matin newspaper headlined: “Man drives his auto into a restaurant terrace”.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls was booed as he joined thousands in Nice for a moment of silence.
The attack has sparked a national debate about whether security officials did all they could to prevent the attack – the third mass slaughter in France over the past 18 months.
Seeking to explain why France is so often targeted, most recently with a truck rampage in Nice last week claimed by the Islamic State group, Hollande cited the country’s traditions of liberty and human rights.
“A search of his computer illustrates a clear. and recent interest in radical jihadism”, Molins said, adding that Bouhlel had recently grown a beard and told people it was for religious reasons.
Eighty-four people were killed in the attack.
French MPs will mull a fourth extension of the eight-month-old state of emergency, as criticism mounted of the Socialist government’s response to a slew of extremist attacks.
Italian state TV, reporting from France, said Monday evening that one of the seven detained in Nice had at one point been hosted by two Tunisians living in the town of Gravina in Puglia.
At the ar-Rahma mosque in the eastern Nice suburb of Ariane, worshippers held prayers for three of those killed in Thursday’s attack, including 4-year-old Kylan Mejri and his mother Olfa Kalfallah, 31.
Cook, who was traveling in Europe and came to Nice to assist Stratton, said a French man aided Stratton in the critical period after the attack. So I will use strong words: “It will be us or them”.
Molins said Bouhlel made reconnaissance visits to the Promenade des Anglais beachfront in the southern French city where he carried out the attack.
Three of the six suspects were brought to French intelligence headquarters in Paris on Monday to face eventual terrorism charges, according to a security official.
Investigators found 11 telephones, cocaine and 2,600 euros ($2,900) in cash at the home of one of the suspects, an Albanian national, according to a security official and the Paris prosecutor’s office. He said he learned about the Algerian from extended family members who live in Nice.
He said France will continue its military operations overseas, which include airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, anti-terrorism operations in Africa and special forces in Libya.
Cazeneuve says: “These links for now have not been established by the investigation”.
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But authorities believe he must have been radicalized very quickly, as he had not shown a passion for religion until recently.
