Friday, 15 July 2016

French President Francois Hollande is to chair crisis talks with his inner security cabinet

says the attack was a terrorist act, has already Day on Nice's .
'Long battle'
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A was of "an undeniable terrorist nature".
He warned that the battle against terrorism would be long, as France faced an enemy "that will continue to attack those people and those countries that count liberty as an essential value".
"out the attack but that it bore the hallmarks of jihadist terrorism.
phone. Items were later seized from Lahouaiej-Bouhlel's Nice home.
Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a driver and delivery man, had three children but had separated from his wife, who was taken into police custody on the


French President Francois Hollande is to chair crisis talks with his inner security cabinet following Thursday's attack in Nice that killed 84 people.
Mr Hollande, who says the attack was a terrorist act, has already extended a state of emergency by three months.
On Thursday, a lorry driver ploughed through a crowd marking Bastille Day on Nice's Promenade des Anglais.
The driver was later shot dead by police. He was identified as Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31.
Prosecutors said he had driven the lorry 2km (1.2 miles) along the famous promenade, zigzagging and targeting people.
Ten of the dead were children. Some 202 people were injured; 52 are critical, of whom 25 are on life support.
'Long battle'
At the meeting with the security chiefs, Mr Hollande is expected to review all available options in response to the attack.
In a televised address to the nation on Thursday night, he pledged that army reservists would be called up to help provide security across the country.
A state of emergency was in place across France since November's Paris attacks carried out by militants from the so-called Islamic State group, in which 130 people died.
The emergency had been due to end on 26 July.
Mr Hollande said the attack was of "an undeniable terrorist nature".
He warned that the battle against terrorism would be long, as France faced an enemy "that will continue to attack those people and those countries that count liberty as an essential value".
"We will overcome the suffering because we are a united France," he said.
What the prosecutor said
Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said that no group had admitted carrying out the attack but that it bore the hallmarks of jihadist terrorism.
Lahouaiej-Bouhlel drove the 19-tonne lorry into crowds at about 22:45 local time (20:45 GMT).
He fired at officers with a 7.65mm calibre automatic pistol when the vehicle was close to the Negresco hotel and continued for another 300m, where his vehicle was stopped near the Palais de la Mediterranee hotel and he was shot dead.
Also found in the lorry were an ammunition magazine, a fake pistol, replica Kalashnikov and M16 rifles, and a dummy grenade.
There was also a bicycle, empty pallets, documents and a mobile phone. Items were later seized from Lahouaiej-Bouhlel's Nice home.
Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a driver and delivery man, had three children but had separated from his wife, who was taken into police custody on Friday, Mr Molins said.
He was known to the police as a petty criminal, but was "totally unknown to intelligence services... and was never flagged for signs of radicalisation," the prosecutor added.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said he could not confirm links to jihadism.
However, Prime Minister Manuel Valls told France 2 television that Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was a "terrorist without doubt linked to radical Islamism in one way or another".
Warning: This story contains images some people may find distressing
What we know
Freedom under threat in France
'Heartbreaking' image of victim
Bastille Day attack in pictures
Social media reacts to attack
Who was the attacker?
What witnesses saw
Simon Coates, a solicitor from Leeds told the BBC: "I saw one woman lying on the ground talking to her dead child, as other people desperately did what they could to save their loved ones.
"As the lorry passed by me a young boy of 10 or so just managed to leap to one side and escape by inches. Tragically dozens of those on foot, young and old alike, were not so lucky. Virtually everyone I saw on the promenade was either dead or beyond real help with truly terrible injuries."
Nader el-Shafei told the BBC he saw the driver face-to-face for about a minute: "He was very nervous… looking for something around him, I kept yelling at him and waving my hands to stop... he picked up his gun and started to shoot police."
Afterwards he said he ran towards the beach with others, fearing the driver, who was then shot by police, would detonate the lorry.
Read more: Witnesses describe terror
Who were the victims?
Some 30,000 people were on the Promenade des Anglais at the time of the attack, officials said.
Residents of Nice and foreign tourists were among those who died.
They included four French citizens, three Algerians, a teacher and two schoolchildren from Germany, three Tunisians, two Swiss, two Americans, a Ukrainian, an Armenian and a Russian.
The son of Fatima Charrihi, a 60-year-old Nice resident from Morocco, said she was the first to die. He said she "practised Islam in the proper way. A real Islam, not the terrorists' version".
Read more: Victims of Nice attack
What more do we know about the attacker?
Tunisian security sources said Lahouaiej-Bouhlel came from the Tunisian town of Msaken. He visited Tunisia frequently, the last time eight months ago.
Justice Minister Jean-Jacques Urvoas said the suspect had been given a suspended sentence earlier this year following a confrontation with another driver but this was his only conviction.
Residents of his apartment building said he was a loner who did not respond when they said hello

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