Known radical Islamist held over attempted murder of French soldier

 
The suspected (2nd L) perpetrator of the May 26, 2013 attack on a soldier the La Defense business district, is escorted by policemen of Intervention and Search Brigade (BRI) as he arrives at police headquarters in Paris on May 29, 2013. Police investigating the stabbing of a French soldier in Paris arrested today a suspect sources described as an adherent of "radical Islam. Sources close to the investigation said the 22-year-old man has been a follower of a "traditionalist even radical Islam for the last three or four years. AFP PHOTO / ERIC FEFERBERGERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images
Peter Allen30 May 2013

A known radical Islamist was today arrested on suspicion of attempting to murder a French soldier.

The 22-year-old, who has not been named, was held when armed anti- terrorist police raided his home in the early hours in La Verriere, a commuter town near Versailles.

Images of him are thought to have been caught on CCTV when the soldier, Cedric Cordiez, 23, was stabbed in the throat and neck while on anti-terrorist patrol in the La Defense district of Paris.

The ambush happened just three days after soldier Lee Rigby was hacked to death in London — prompting fears it was a copycat attack.

Manuel Valls, France’s interior minister, praised security forces for the swift arrest and said everything would be done to establish the “course, the environment and the motivation of this young man.”

A source told Le Parisien newspaper that the arrested man was a follower of a “traditionalist” form of Islam.

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