Suspect in Louvre attack breaks his silence
February 7, 2017
The suspect in the attack on guards of the Louvre Museum in Paris has started talking to investigators and confirmed his suspected identity, sources told several news agencies on Tuesday.
The man confirmed that he is in fact the 29-year old Egyptian police assumed he was. Though the man is now cooperating with officials, it is not yet known why the suspect carried out the attack, or whether he acted by himself or followed orders.
The man allegedly attacked four soldiers guarding the Louvre art museum in Paris last Friday, wielding two machetes and shouting "Allahu akbar" ("God is the greatest" in Arabic). The suspect was severely injured when a guard fired at him in self-defense, according to the French Interior Ministry, while one soldier sustained slight injuries. After he was stabilized at a hospital, the alleged attacker initially refused to answer questions by police.
The man is believed to have entered France on a flight from Dubai eight days before the attack. He reportedly purchased the two machetes at a gun store in the French capital two days after arriving.
In the past two years, France has been plagued by several terror attacks that have cost a total of 238 lives. The country has officially been in a state of emergency since November 2015, when 130 people died in a series of attacks in Paris. The threat of terrorism will likely play an important role in the upcoming presidential election in April and May – far-right candidate Marine Le Pen has surged in part due to her promises to restore law and order in France.
mb/rt (AFP, dpa, Reuters)