French authorities have condemned fatal stabbing as an “Islamophobic attack” and a hate crime.
The Italian police have arrested a man raised to kill a Muslim worshiper in a mosque in southern France in an “Islamophobic attack.”
The suspect was delivered at a police station near Florence on Sunday night, two days after the attack in the mosque in the Grand Combe, an old mining city in the Gard region. The murder of the Malian man has been convicted as an “anti-musulm” and “racist” crime.
The French Interior Ministry confirmed that the suspect, born in 2004 and without previous criminal records, had crossed Italy before surrendering.
The public prosecutor of the Southern City of Ales in Gard, Abdelkrim Grini, told BFM TV that the police had been tracking the suspect after fleding from France, and added: “It was only a matter of time before having it in the hands with him.”
“Anti-Musulman’s motivation is the favorite protagonist,” he added, but noted that the authorities were also exploring other reasons, including a “fascination with death.”
The authorities launched a human hunt on Friday after the attack, which was captured on the suspect’s phone and then circulated online.
According to reports, security images shouted at the attacker shouting insults towards God before carrying out the assault.
France will quickly begin extradition procedures, Grini said. “We will do our best to come back as soon as possible.”
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President Emmanuel Macron condemned the attack, declaring: “Racism and hate based on religion will never have a place in France. Religious freedom is inviolable.”
Previously, Prime Minister Francois Bayrou described the attack as “Islamophobic.”
The Great Mosque of Paris identified the victim, namically as Aboubakar, when he was a young woman of about 20 years who had the mosque mosque shortly before being attacked.
The demonstrations in support of the victim were carried out during the weekend at Grand Combe and Paris, with activists who demanded a stronger action against anti-Muslim violence.
France is home to the largest Muslim population in Europe, which represents around 10 percent of the country.
