PARIS: A man suspected of wounding two people with a butcher knife near the old Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo Magazine has admitted to starring in the attack, linking it to the reissue of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad by the satirical weekly, sources said Saturday.
The man, who said he was born in Pakistan and is 18 years old, “takes responsibility for his action,” which came three weeks after the trial of the alleged accomplices in the 2015 massacre of the newspaper’s staff, said a source close to the investigation.
The man said during questioning that he places his actions “in the context of the reissue of cartoons” of the Prophet Muhammad in Charlie Hebdo, the source said.
A man armed with a butcher knife seriously wounded two people on Friday near the former Charlie Hebdo offices in the 11th arrondissement of the French capital.
He was arrested not far from the scene later on Friday.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Friday that the attack was “clearly an act of Islamist terrorism.”
Charlie Hebdo has angered many Muslims around the world by publishing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad over the years and defiantly reprinted some of the cartoons before the trial.
France’s PNAT specialized counterterrorism prosecution office said on Friday it had opened an investigation into charges of “attempted murder related to a terrorist company” against him, as well as “conspiracy with terrorists.”
News production agency Premieres Lignes said the injured were its employees – a man and a woman taking a smoke break outside.
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A source close to the investigation confirmed to AFP on Friday that the attacker used a large butcher knife found near the scene.
French police detain a total of seven people in connection with the attack.
Among them is a former roommate of the main suspect who was brought in for questioning overnight, a judicial source said.
Five others were arrested in the Parisian suburb of Pantin during a property search linked to the main suspect.
Police also released another man on Friday night who was near the scene of the attack but who was confirmed to be a witness who had “pursued the attacker,” a judicial source said.
Neighbors and Pantin merchants described the suspect as “discreet” and “polite.”
The young man, who arrived from Pakistan three years ago, is believed to have last lived in a small apartment in a four-story building in the district.
“He was very polite. I often saw him sitting on the landing with his phone. He helped me carry my purchases,” said a neighbor, who identified herself as Josiane.
Prime Minister Jean Castex praised the “efficiency” of the security forces following the attack on Saturday during a visit to police headquarters, saying “the enemies of the Republic will never win.”
Twelve people, including some of France’s most famous cartoonists, were killed in the attack on Charlie Hebdo’s offices by Islamist gunmen on January 7, 2015.
The new address of the magazine is kept secret.
The stabbing occurred during the trial of 14 alleged accomplices of the brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi, authors of the 2015 attack against Charlie hebdo that was claimed by a branch of Al-Qaeda.
A female police officer died a day later, followed the day after by the murder of four men in a hostage-taking in a Jewish supermarket by the gunman Amedy Coulibaly.
The trial has reopened one of the most painful chapters in modern French history, with heartbreaking testimonies from survivors and relatives of the deceased.
The magazine received fresh threats from Al-Qaeda this month after it republished the controversial cartoons.
More than 100 French media outlets on Wednesday called for continued support for Charlie Hebdo against what they described as the “enemies of freedom.”
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