France names second church attacker
News Agency, an online service
affiliated with the Islamic State (IS)
group, purportedly shows French
jihadist Abdel Malik Petitjean, 19,
identifying himself as “”Ibn Omar”, one
of the two men who stormed into a
church in the northern French town of
Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray during
morning mass and cut the throat of a
86-year-old priest at the altar.
Two jihadists who attacked a French
church and brutally murdered a priest
had pledged allegiance to the Islamic
State group, a video showed on July 27.
The attack in the Normandy town of
Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray came as
France was still coming to terms with
the Bastille Day killings in Nice claimed
by IS.
/ AFP PHOTO / AMAQ NEWS AGENCY /
French prosecutors on Thursday
identified the second jihadist involved
in the brutal killing of an elderly
priest, as calls mounted for the prime
minister and interior minister to
resign after the latest terror attack.
The prosecutor’s office named the
assailant as 19-year-old Abdel Malik
Petitjean, who was listed in June on
France’s “Fiche S” of people posing a
potential threat to national security
after trying to reach Syria from
Turkey.
Petitjean, whose face was disfigured
after being shot dead by police, had
been harder to identify than his
accomplice Adel Kermiche, also 19,
and investigators confirmed his
identity after a DNA match with his
mother.
The two jihadists were shown pledging
allegiance to the Islamic State group in
a video made before they stormed a
church in the Normandy town of
Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray Tuesday
and slit the 86-year-old priest’s throat
at the altar.
The attack came as the government
was already facing a firestorm of
criticism over alleged security failings
after the Bastille Day truck massacre
that left 84 people dead two weeks ago.
– ‘Government guilty’ –
A brief show of political unity at a
mass attended by different faiths in
Paris Wednesday quickly dissolved as
Prime Minister Manuel Valls and
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve
faced fresh calls to resign.
“If the government is not responsible
for the wave of terrorism, it is guilty of
not having done everything to stop it,”
Laurent Wauqiez, the deputy leader of
the right-wing Republicans party, said
in an interview with Le Figaro
newspaper.
“Manuel Valls and Bernard Cazeneuve
must go because they refuse to take
vital measures to fight Islamism. We
need a new government, determined
to act.”
The French government has said that
everything possible is being done to
protect citizens, while warning that
more terror attacks are inevitable,
after three major strikes and several
smaller attacks in the past 18 months.
President Francois Hollande confirmed
Thursday the creation of a National
Guard to be made up of reserve forces,
after the government previously urged
“patriots” to sign up to become
reservists.
Hollande said parliamentary
consultations on the formation of the
force would take place in September
“so that this force can be created as
fast as possible to protect the French”.
The government has faced tough
questions as it emerged both church
attackers were on the radar of
intelligence services, and had tried to
go to Syria.
– Warnings of terror strike –
One of the criticisms is that Kermiche
had been released from prison while
awaiting trial on terror charges after
his second attempt to travel to Syria.
He was fitted with an electronic tag —
allowing him out of the house on
weekday mornings — despite calls
from the prosecutor for him not to be
released.
Annie Geslin, who worked with
Kermiche’s mother for many years,
told AFP “he was the youngest child
and had psychological problems.”
Sources close to the investigation said
Petitjean “strongly resembles” a man
hunted by anti-terrorism police in the
days before the church killing over
fears he was about to carry out an act
of terror.
The sources said France’s anti-
terrorism police unit UCLAT sent out a
note four days before the attack —
saying it had received “reliable”
information about a person “about to
carry out an attack on national
territory”.
Three members of Petijean’s family
were taken into custody for
questioning, said a source close to the
investigation.
In a video posted on the IS news
agency Amaq, the two men calling
themselves by the noms de guerre Abu
Omar and Abu Jalil al-Hanafi, hold
hands as they swear “obedience” to IS
leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Petitjean, from the Savoie region in
eastern France, worked in several
part-times sales jobs and was
described by his incredulous mother as
“gentle. He is not involved at all”.
Others who knew him were equally
shocked, describing him as normal and
showing no signs of radicalisation.
“All the believers are shocked because
he was known for his kindness. What
was going on in his head?” asked
Djamel Tazghat, who manages the local
mosque.
The attack is the third in two weeks in
France and Germany in which
jihadists have pledged allegiance to IS,
increasing jitters in Europe over
young, often unstable men being lured
by the group’s propaganda and calls to
carry out attacks in their home
countries.
IS also claimed that Mohamed
Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who ploughed a
truck into a crowd in the French city
of Nice on July 14, was one of their
“soldiers”. However no direct link has
been found.
Security fears meant a march for the
Nice victims planned on Sunday, as
well as another in Saint-Etienne-du-
Rouvray due to be held on Thursday
were cancelled.
affiliated with the Islamic State (IS)
group, purportedly shows French
jihadist Abdel Malik Petitjean, 19,
identifying himself as “”Ibn Omar”, one
of the two men who stormed into a
church in the northern French town of
Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray during
morning mass and cut the throat of a
86-year-old priest at the altar.
Two jihadists who attacked a French
church and brutally murdered a priest
had pledged allegiance to the Islamic
State group, a video showed on July 27.
The attack in the Normandy town of
Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray came as
France was still coming to terms with
the Bastille Day killings in Nice claimed
by IS.
/ AFP PHOTO / AMAQ NEWS AGENCY /
French prosecutors on Thursday
identified the second jihadist involved
in the brutal killing of an elderly
priest, as calls mounted for the prime
minister and interior minister to
resign after the latest terror attack.
The prosecutor’s office named the
assailant as 19-year-old Abdel Malik
Petitjean, who was listed in June on
France’s “Fiche S” of people posing a
potential threat to national security
after trying to reach Syria from
Turkey.
Petitjean, whose face was disfigured
after being shot dead by police, had
been harder to identify than his
accomplice Adel Kermiche, also 19,
and investigators confirmed his
identity after a DNA match with his
mother.
The two jihadists were shown pledging
allegiance to the Islamic State group in
a video made before they stormed a
church in the Normandy town of
Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray Tuesday
and slit the 86-year-old priest’s throat
at the altar.
The attack came as the government
was already facing a firestorm of
criticism over alleged security failings
after the Bastille Day truck massacre
that left 84 people dead two weeks ago.
– ‘Government guilty’ –
A brief show of political unity at a
mass attended by different faiths in
Paris Wednesday quickly dissolved as
Prime Minister Manuel Valls and
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve
faced fresh calls to resign.
“If the government is not responsible
for the wave of terrorism, it is guilty of
not having done everything to stop it,”
Laurent Wauqiez, the deputy leader of
the right-wing Republicans party, said
in an interview with Le Figaro
newspaper.
“Manuel Valls and Bernard Cazeneuve
must go because they refuse to take
vital measures to fight Islamism. We
need a new government, determined
to act.”
The French government has said that
everything possible is being done to
protect citizens, while warning that
more terror attacks are inevitable,
after three major strikes and several
smaller attacks in the past 18 months.
President Francois Hollande confirmed
Thursday the creation of a National
Guard to be made up of reserve forces,
after the government previously urged
“patriots” to sign up to become
reservists.
Hollande said parliamentary
consultations on the formation of the
force would take place in September
“so that this force can be created as
fast as possible to protect the French”.
The government has faced tough
questions as it emerged both church
attackers were on the radar of
intelligence services, and had tried to
go to Syria.
– Warnings of terror strike –
One of the criticisms is that Kermiche
had been released from prison while
awaiting trial on terror charges after
his second attempt to travel to Syria.
He was fitted with an electronic tag —
allowing him out of the house on
weekday mornings — despite calls
from the prosecutor for him not to be
released.
Annie Geslin, who worked with
Kermiche’s mother for many years,
told AFP “he was the youngest child
and had psychological problems.”
Sources close to the investigation said
Petitjean “strongly resembles” a man
hunted by anti-terrorism police in the
days before the church killing over
fears he was about to carry out an act
of terror.
The sources said France’s anti-
terrorism police unit UCLAT sent out a
note four days before the attack —
saying it had received “reliable”
information about a person “about to
carry out an attack on national
territory”.
Three members of Petijean’s family
were taken into custody for
questioning, said a source close to the
investigation.
In a video posted on the IS news
agency Amaq, the two men calling
themselves by the noms de guerre Abu
Omar and Abu Jalil al-Hanafi, hold
hands as they swear “obedience” to IS
leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Petitjean, from the Savoie region in
eastern France, worked in several
part-times sales jobs and was
described by his incredulous mother as
“gentle. He is not involved at all”.
Others who knew him were equally
shocked, describing him as normal and
showing no signs of radicalisation.
“All the believers are shocked because
he was known for his kindness. What
was going on in his head?” asked
Djamel Tazghat, who manages the local
mosque.
The attack is the third in two weeks in
France and Germany in which
jihadists have pledged allegiance to IS,
increasing jitters in Europe over
young, often unstable men being lured
by the group’s propaganda and calls to
carry out attacks in their home
countries.
IS also claimed that Mohamed
Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who ploughed a
truck into a crowd in the French city
of Nice on July 14, was one of their
“soldiers”. However no direct link has
been found.
Security fears meant a march for the
Nice victims planned on Sunday, as
well as another in Saint-Etienne-du-
Rouvray due to be held on Thursday
were cancelled.
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