PARIS (Reuters) -The driver who rammed his car into a crowd in western France is suspected of “self-radicalisation” and had “explicit religious references” at home, the country’s Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Thursday.
“Based on a number of factors that exist with this individual, and the fact that he actually shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’, there are religious references in his case that are quite clear and quite explicit”, Nunez said. “Allahu Akbar” is Arabic for “God is Greatest”.
However, Nunez added that it wasn’t clear at this stage if Wednesday’s attack, which injured five people on Oleron island off France’s Atlantic coast, was religiously motivated.
“It is the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office that will determine through a psychiatric evaluation – which took place yesterday after two searches – and a review of telephone records, whether these elements were the trigger for the violent action we have seen”, Nunez said.
Contacted by Reuters, the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said it remained in an observation role at this stage. For now, the inquiry is being handled by the local prosecutor’s office in La Rochelle.
The 35-year-old suspect is a French resident of Oleron, and was previously known to police for petty crimes including drink driving and drug-related offences, officials have said.
Two of those injured in the attack remain in critical condition, Nunez said.
(Reporting by Inti Landauro, Dominique Vidalon and Alessandro Parodi, editing by Aidan Lewis)
