French attack suspect grilled as gruesome ‘selfie’ emerges

French police questioned a suspected Islamist Saturday about an attack in which the man displayed his boss’s severed head, as it emerged he may have sent a “selfie” of the decapitation. Sources close to the investigation said the suspect, Yassin Salhi, a 35-year-old married father-of-three sent a picture of him with the severed head via the WhatsApp messaging service. The message was sent to a Canadian number but investigators said they were still working to determine the final recipient, as the number used could be a relay. Authorities are questioning Salhi about Friday’s attack, during which he also drove his van into a warehouse packed with dangerous gases in an apparent bid to blow up the factory and himself.

The head was surrounded by two Islamic flags bearing the Shahada, the profession of (the Muslim) faith.

prosecutor Francois Molins

The prosecutor in the case said firefighters overpowered Salhi as he was trying to open acetone bottles in what is believed to have been an attempt to cause a larger explosion at the US-owned Air Products factory in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Lyon. The firefighters then discovered the decapitated body of his 54-year-old employer Herve Cornara – who ran a delivery firm – near the car, along with a knife. Cornara’s head was pinned to a nearby fence. France is on high alert over hundreds of citizens who have gone to wage jihad in Iraq and Syria, as well as those involved in recruitment or radicalisation online. Similarly, Europe has for months been bracing for so-called “lone wolf” attacks by supporters of Islamic State, which has urged its followers to strike wherever they can.

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