PARIS: The chief suspect in the fatal stabbings of three people in a church in the French city of Nice was charged on Monday with their murder, anti-terrorism prosecutors said.
Brahim Aouissaoui, a 21-year-old Tunisian national, was shot and seriously injured by police after the October 29 attack. He was charged after his condition in hospital improved, allowing him to be questioned.
France last month raised its attack alert to the highest level after the Nice killings, which came two weeks after the beheading of history teacher Samuel Paty by an 18-year-old Chechen refugee for having shown his pupils cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a lesson on freedom of speech.
Aouissaoui had arrived in Europe from Tunisia in September, first crossing the Mediterranean to Italy and then crossing into France overland.
On the morning of October 29, Aouissaoui entered the Basilica of Notre-Dame in the heart of the southern French city of Nice, carrying a copy of the Qur’an, three knives and two mobile phones, according to France’s anti-terror prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard.
In a near half-hour frenzy, he used a 17-centimeter (six-and-a-half inch) knife to cut the throat of a 60-year-old woman, who died inside the church.
The body of a man, a 54-year-old church employee, was found nearby inside the basilica — his throat had also been slit.
Another woman, a 44-year-old who fled the church to a nearby restaurant, died shortly afterwards from multiple knife wounds.
Aouissaoui was shot several times by police after the killing spree and even as he was being arrested continued to shout “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest), before being rushed to the city’s Pasteur hospital.
French intelligence had nothing on file relating to Aouissaou prior to the attack.
He hails from a large family of seemingly modest means living in the central Tunisian city of Sfax.
His mother said he repaired motorcycles and described how he had taken to prayer over the past two-and-a-half years.
“He didn’t go out and didn’t communicate with others,” she told AFP shortly after the attack.
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Tunisian charged over fatal French church stabbings
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Tunisian charged over fatal French church stabbings
- Brahim Aouissaoui was charged after his condition in hospital improved, allowing him to be questioned
- Aouissaoui had arrived in Europe from Tunisia in September, first crossing the Mediterranean to Italy and then crossing into France overland
Japan protests China comments on reviving ‘militarism’
TOKYO: Tokyo said it had lodged a “stern demarche” to China through diplomatic channels after Beijing’s top diplomat Wang Yi accused “far-right forces” in Japan of seeking to revive militarism.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Wang weighed in on Beijing’s current relationship with Tokyo, which has been under heavy strain since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made comments about Taiwan in November.
Wang said that “Japanese people should no longer allow themselves to be manipulated or deceived by those far-right forces, or by those who seek to revive militarism.”
“All peace-loving countries should send a clear warning to Japan: if it chooses to walk back on this path, it will only be heading toward self-destruction.”
Japan’s ministry of foreign affairs dismissed the claims in a post on X Sunday as “factually incorrect and ungrounded.”
“Japan’s efforts to strengthen its defense capabilities are in response to an increasingly severe security environment and are not directed against any specific third country,” the statement said.
It said there were “countries in the international community that have been rapidly increasing their military capabilities in a non-transparent manner” but added that “Japan opposes such moves and distances itself from them.”
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi made his stance clear at another session of the conference, followed by a stern demarche against the Chinese side through diplomatic channels, the statement said.
Just weeks into her term, Takaichi said Japan would intervene militarily in any attack on Taiwan.
Beijing claims the self-ruled democratic island as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control.
Takaichi was seen as a China hawk before becoming Japan’s first woman prime minister in October.
She said last week that under her leadership Japan — which hosts some 60,000 US military personnel — would bolster its defenses and “steadfastly protect” its territory.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Wang weighed in on Beijing’s current relationship with Tokyo, which has been under heavy strain since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made comments about Taiwan in November.
Wang said that “Japanese people should no longer allow themselves to be manipulated or deceived by those far-right forces, or by those who seek to revive militarism.”
“All peace-loving countries should send a clear warning to Japan: if it chooses to walk back on this path, it will only be heading toward self-destruction.”
Japan’s ministry of foreign affairs dismissed the claims in a post on X Sunday as “factually incorrect and ungrounded.”
“Japan’s efforts to strengthen its defense capabilities are in response to an increasingly severe security environment and are not directed against any specific third country,” the statement said.
It said there were “countries in the international community that have been rapidly increasing their military capabilities in a non-transparent manner” but added that “Japan opposes such moves and distances itself from them.”
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi made his stance clear at another session of the conference, followed by a stern demarche against the Chinese side through diplomatic channels, the statement said.
Just weeks into her term, Takaichi said Japan would intervene militarily in any attack on Taiwan.
Beijing claims the self-ruled democratic island as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control.
Takaichi was seen as a China hawk before becoming Japan’s first woman prime minister in October.
She said last week that under her leadership Japan — which hosts some 60,000 US military personnel — would bolster its defenses and “steadfastly protect” its territory.
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