The French are threatened everywhere

Following the international condemnation caused by the jihadist attack on a church in Nice, France called on its citizens residing outside the country to take precautions and strengthen the security of their lands, especially places of worship and educational institutions.

nice: After a Defense Council meeting overseen by President Emmanuel Macron, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Friday: “An ’emergency attack’ message was sent (the highest level of warning in the French security plan) to all our citizens abroad, wherever they are, because the threat is everywhere “.

The duel in Nice prevailed on Thursday, after the murder of 3 people in a church, four years after an attack on July 14, 2016 that killed 86 people in the city of the Riviera.

The perpetrator, a 21-year-old Tunisian identified as Ibrahim al-Issawi, stabbed two women, one of whom was 60 years old and the other was a 44-year-old Brazilian who had lived in Nice for several years and a sender 55 year old church father of two children.

The attacker was taken to hospital after police beat him.

Although his motives are unknown, his course of action is known. French and Italian sources said that he arrived in Europe illegally via the island of Lampedusa on September 20. He then arrived in Bari, Italy on October 9 and received an order from the authorities to leave the country within seven days.

After that, the young man was lost until Wednesday when he called his brother Yassin, who lives in Sfax, Tunisia. Yassin al-Issawi told Agence France-Presse on Friday that his brother “arrived in France (Wednesday) around 8:00 pm and said he went to France because it is better for the job.” He could not explain the behavior of his brother, who became religious about two years ago after starting a small project to sell fuel in some way. It is illegal in your country.

A source close to the investigation said he arrived in Nice “between 24 and 48 hours before the attack.”

Did the attacker act alone? A source close to the investigation stated that the 47-year-old man who was detained on suspicion of ties to the young Tunisian was not related to the file. But the investigations could yield results thanks to two phones found near Ibrahim al-Issawi, as well as a Koran.

Several political officials expressed their anger, including the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi (right). The official called for an “amendment to the constitution” to allow a “war” to be waged against an ideology he described as “Islamofascism.” District MP Eric Ciotti, who is also from the right, asked “C-News” television to create “French-style Guantánamo.”

For his part, the Interior Minister, Gerald Darmenen, said: “We are not at war against a religion but against an ideology, the Islamic ideology.”

He added that the Community Defense Council decided on Friday to make 7,000 security personnel available to district governors, half of whom are gendarmerie reserves, to ensure security.

The strengthening of security measures in the vicinity of churches will be “significant” this weekend for All Saints’ Day on November 1. The security of educational institutions will also be reinforced with the return to classes on the Monday after the holidays on the occasion of the Catholic holiday.

Tensions are intensifying between France and some Muslim countries, two weeks after the assassination of teacher Samuel Patti, who was massacred for presenting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a class on freedom of expression.

And Jean-Yves Le Drian repeated that “the threat is everywhere”, on alert to the French who live outside the country.

And following an attack on a security officer at the French consulate in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Thursday, limited clashes broke out in Beirut on Friday near the residence of the French ambassador.

“We went from virtual hatred to realistic violence, and we decided to take all measures to ensure the safety of our interests and of our citizens,” Le Drian said.

Following the Nice attack, messages of solidarity with France were issued from countries around the world, from the United States to the Middle East, Europe and the United Nations.

Mixed feelings appeared in Nice, which is inhabited by a balanced Maghreb community, ranging from anger to hatred among some 200 members of the nationalist “Idontitar” movement who demonstrated on Thursday night and raised the slogan “Islam abroad”. There were also calls for tolerance, like the 37-year-old Virginian who said: “This is reminiscent of 2016 and July 14, but we must remain smart.”