French police cozy the doorway of the Air products agency in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, near Lyon, criticaljap France. (Agence France-Presse)
PARIS: Yassin Salhi become a quiet man with a job, a circle of relatives and no criminal file before he allegedly released a grisly assault at an business gasoline manufacturing facility in France and pinned his boss’s severed head to the fence on Friday.
even as government had investigated the married 35-yr–old father of three for ties to the radical Salafistmotion, he become never identified as participating in terrorist activities and in no way convicted ofagainst the law.
A co-employee of Salhi’s said he became mysterious, possessed of a quiet electricity and deceptively calm.
“He changed into a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Abdel Karim informed RTL radio.
“He had already talked to me approximately Daesh,” stated Karim using one of the names for the Islamicstate organization.
It became “now not to indoctrinate me into anything, but truly to invite me my opinion. once I instructedhim what I idea, from that day on, it became ‘hey/good-bye.'”
Salhi caught the eye of intelligence authorities in 2005 and 2006 because he turned into socialising with a collection of people related to radical Islam, a supply near the case told AFP.
Intelligence offerings investigated him for a few years thereafter, but did not renew their inquiry in 2008, French indoors Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.
“This character has links with the Salafist movement, however had no longer been recognized as having participated in activities of a terrorist nature,” he added.
‘He changed into fine‘
He turned into born within the jap French metropolis of Pontarlier, near the border with Switzerland, to a father of Algerian origin and a mom with a Moroccan background.
The loss of life of his father whilst still a teen and the subsequent upheaval in his existence offers acapability clue of what may additionally have opened the door to radicalisation in his youngsters.
but after his father died, his mother bought the circle of relatives home and moved the circle of relativesaway.
“He was on my own, he become probable an appropriate target for the radicals looking for prey,” statedNacer Benyahia, the imam of the mosque Salhi attended as a boy.
Salhi “turned into a peaceful child, he wasn’t noticeably strung. It was a delight to have him on themosque. He became exceptional,” said Benyahia, who heads the mosque in Pontarlier.
government know Salhi lived for a time together with his spouse and three younger children inside theeastern city of Besancon.
He popped up again at the intelligence services‘ radar in 2013 due to the fact he became associating withpeople suspected of links to radical Islam. on the time he wore a beard and a conventional North Africangown referred to as a djellaba.
however aside from his look there was not anything concrete to suggest he changed into up to some thing dangerous, the source stated.
‘normal Muslims’
ultimately on the stop of 2014 Salhi moved his own family right into a low-earnings condo constructingin Saint-Priest, a quiet suburb of France’s 2nd city, Lyon.
earlier this year he started working as a transport motive force. His boss, or one in all his superiors, wasthe goal of Salhi’s alleged violence, which erupted Friday with his assault at the fuel manufacturing facility.
the person‘s severed head become located pinned to the gate on the facility with Islamist flags draped nearit.
A woman identified as his spouse stated in a French radio interview she was greatly surprised by his alleged actions.
“at the news they may be saying that it is a terrorist attack, but that’s impossible. I recognise him, he ismy husband. we’ve a normal circle of relatives existence,” the unnamed girl instructed Europe 1 radio.
“My coronary heart goes to forestall“, stated the female, whom the radio station recognized as Salhi’sspouse. “He went to paintings this morning at 7:00am.”
“we are ordinary Muslims, we are looking at Ramadan. everyday. we’ve three children, a ordinaryfamily life,” she stated.
