ROME: An Italian court has approved the extradition to France of a man implicated in the deadly Bastille Day attack in Nice in 2016, the AGI news agency reported.
Endri Elezi, a 28-year-old Albanian, was arrested on April 21 on a warrant from France in the southern Italian town of Sparanize, north of Naples.
He is suspected of supplying weapons to the Tunisian man who rammed a truck into a crowd in the French city of Nice on July 14, 2016, the Bastille Day national holiday, killing 86 people.
Elezi, known as “Gino,” is accused of providing Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel with an assault rifle, according to French judicial sources.
A court in Naples approved Elezi’s extradition to France late Thursday, AGI reported.
During the hearing, he denied the accusations, saying: “I have never sold or provided weapons and I don’t know any of the people involved.”
The Naples court did not immediately respond to requests for confirmation.
Elezi was among eight people ordered by the Paris appeals court in March to stand trial for their alleged role in the 2016 attack. The trial will not take place until 2022.
Bouhlel was shot dead by police at the wheel of the vehicle he drove through crowds on Nice’s waterfront, wounding more than 400 people.
The attack came less than a year after the deadly assaults in November 2015 that saw 130 people killed in bombings and shootings across Paris, including at the Bataclan concert hall.
Daesh claimed responsibility for the Nice attack, although prosecutors said there was no evidence that Bouhlel had sworn allegiance to the extremist group.
Italy approves extradition of Nice attack suspect
https://arab.news/83mh4
Italy approves extradition of Nice attack suspect
- Endri Elezi, a 28-year-old Albanian, was arrested on April 21 on a warrant from France in the southern Italian town of Sparanize, north of Naples
- Elezi is suspected of supplying weapons to the Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel who rammed a truck into a crowd in the French city of Nice on July 14, 2016, killing 86 people
North Korea’s Kim: party congress to unveil plans for nuclear-war deterrent, KCNA says
- North Korea has defied a United Nations ban against it on ballistic missile development
SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the upcoming congress of the ruling Workers’ Party will unveil next-stage plans for further strengthening the country’s nuclear war deterrent, KCNA state news agency reported on Wednesday.
Kim directed a successful test of a large-caliber multiple-rocket launch system on Tuesday, KCNA said. The drill demonstrated significant upgrades to the weapon’s strike power, mobility and accuracy, it quoted him as saying.
It is an important policy of the ruling Workers’ Party to build a reliable offensive capability and deterrence strategy to thwart an enemy attempt to spark an armed conflict, he said.
“This test will be a source of excruciating mental agony and serious threat to the forces that attempt to provoke a military confrontation with us,” Kim said.
South Korea and Japan on Tuesday condemned the launch of possible short-range ballistic missiles by the North toward the sea off its east coast. North Korea has defied a United Nations ban against it on ballistic missile development.
Kim did not elaborate on his comment about the upcoming congress of the ruling party, which is expected to take place some time in the next several weeks. The country has not announced the dates.
