Paris: A Pakistani man who attacked the former offices of the Charlie Hebdo magazine last September was radicalised by videos of preachers in his home country and anti-France demonstrations at the time, he told police according to a report published on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old had spent the days leading up to his knife attack watching extremist preachers on YouTube and TikTok denouncing France and Charlie Hebdo, Le Parisien newspaper reported, citing the police investigation.
"I couldn't eat. I was crying watching the videos," Zaheer Hassan Mahmood told investigators.
Weeks before, the magazine had republished cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh), considered blasphemous by many Muslims, to mark the start of a trial of men linked to a 2015 attack on its offices.
Mahmood said he did not realise the magazine had moved offices after the 2015 attack and presumed the two people he slashed with a meat cleaver were employees of the publication, the paper said.
Both victims, who worked for a TV production company with no links to Charlie Hebdo, sustained serious injuries.
Mahmood, from the village of Kothli Qazi in Punjab province, had entered France with false papers showing him as an unaccompanied minor, enabling him to claim asylum.
Islamist groups organised demonstrations in Pakistan in September against Charlie Hebdo and French President Emmanuel Macron, who defended freedom of expression and blasphemy, which is legal in France.
Mahmood watched videos by Khadim Hussain Rizvi, the late founder of the Islamist Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party, and other radical preachers. He was also influenced by Prime Minister Imran Khan, who accused Macron of "attacking Islam," the paper said.
Blasphemy is a criminal act in conservative Pakistan, where laws allow for the death penalty for anyone deemed to have insulted Islam or Islamic figures.
Mahmood said he initially intended to damage the office building, rather than attack people, and has offered to apologise to his victims.
Investigators have found a video he sent to a friend the day before his attack which called for the decapitation of blasphemers, and he received a call from Greece the same day which appeared to refer to a premeditated assault.
He has been charged with "attempted murder with relation to a terrorist enterprise".
Charlie Hebdo office attacker tells investigators he was 'radicalised’ by Pakistani preachers
https://arab.news/69gzz
Charlie Hebdo office attacker tells investigators he was 'radicalised’ by Pakistani preachers
- 26-year-old told police he spent days leading up to knife attack watching extremist preachers on YouTube and TikTok
- Mahmood, from Pakistan's Punjab province, had entered France with false papers showing him as an unaccompanied minor
Saudi Arabia condemns deadly mosque bombing in Pakistan’s capital
- The Kingdom rejects targeting of places of worship, expresses solidarity with Pakistan
- Saudi foreign ministry offers condolences to victims’ families, wishes injured recovery
ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia on Friday condemned the suicide bombing that targeted a mosque in Islamabad, expressing solidarity with Pakistan after the attack killed and injured dozens on the outskirts of the capital.
The blast, which struck during Friday prayers, killed at least 31 people and wounded more than 160 others, according to Pakistani authorities.
In a statement issued by its foreign ministry, Saudi Arabia denounced the targeting of a place of worship and rejected all forms of violence and extremism.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expresses its strong condemnation and denunciation of the terrorist bombing that targeted a mosque in the capital of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Islamabad,” the statement said.
It added that the Kingdom stood firmly against attacks on civilians and places of worship and reaffirmed its support for Pakistan in confronting militant violence.
The ministry also extended condolences to the families of those killed and expressed sympathy with the Pakistani government and people, wishing the wounded a speedy recovery.
No militant group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, which Pakistani officials say is being investigated.
