French soldier stabbed in throat outside Paris
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| Police officers stand near the cordoned off spot where a French soldier was stabbed in the throat in the busy commercial district of La Defense, outside Paris, Saturday May 25, 2013, and France's president said authorities are investigating any possible links with the recent slaying of a British soldier. |
PARIS (AP) --
A French soldier was stabbed in the throat in a busy commercial
district outside Paris on Saturday, and France's president said
authorities are investigating any possible links with the recent slaying
of a British soldier.
President Francois
Hollande said the identity of the attacker was unknown and cautioned
against jumping to conclusions about the assault on the uniformed
soldier in the La Defense shopping area. The life of the 23-year-old
soldier was not in danger, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
The
stabbing follows the slaying Wednesday of a British soldier, who was
brutally stabbed on a London street in broad daylight in a suspected
terrorist attack that has raised fears of potential copycat strikes.
"There
could be a link, but we will look at all the elements," Hollande said
during a news conference in Ethiopia, where he was traveling.
The
British soldier, 25-year-old Lee Rigby, was attacked while walking
outside the Royal Artillery Barracks in the Woolwich area of south
London.
The gruesome scene was recorded on
witnesses' cellphones, and a video has emerged in which one of the two
suspects - his hands bloodied - boasted of their exploits and warned of
more violence as the soldier lay on the ground. Holding bloody knives
and a meat cleaver, the suspects waited for the arrival of police, who
shot them in the legs, according to witnesses.
In
the video, one of the suspects declared, "We swear by almighty Allah we
will never stop fighting you ... We must fight them as they fight us."
Two
Muslim hard-liners have identified that suspect as Michael Adebolajo, a
Christian who converted to Islam and attended several London
demonstrations organized by banned British radical group al-Muhajiroun.
French
security forces have been on heightened alert since their country
launched a military intervention in the African nation of Mali in
January to regain territory seized by Islamic radicals.
