France terror attack suspect reportedly admits to killing boss

Yassin Salhi, the man suspected of beheading his employer in a recent terrorist attack in France, has confessed to his crime, with reports saying he was being escorted home for further investigation.

According to AFP on Monday, the 35-year-old suspect,  a truck driver reportedly carrying an ISIL flag during the attack, confessed to murdering his boss, Herve Cornara, in a parking lot of a gas factory.

Salhi murdered his boss an hour before he drove to the American group Air Products factory in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier near the French city of Lyon situated in the southeastern part of the country, sources told the news outlet.

The suspect began speaking to investigators after initially refusing to do so, Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre, a spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor’s office, told the local media.

She reportedly declined, however, to provide further details.

After confessing to the attack, Salhi was escorted by police into his residence in the town of Saint-Priest, outside Lyon.

According to AP, police searched for Salhi's passport, to determine if he had traveled abroad before the attack.

It was not clear if the investigators found what they were looking for in the apartment. After spending about an hour in his home, Salhi was returned to a Lyon police station where he was initially questioned.

Right after beheading his victim, the suspect sent a macabre "selfie" photo of himself and the victim's head  to someone outside France.

Where he sent the photo still remains a question as there are conflicting reports suggesting he sent the it from his smartphone to a man identified only as Younes, who allegedly has been in war-torn Syria since last year, according to the Associated Press.

But, the US-based news outlet insists that investigators have found no links to any international terror group yet.

Other reports said that the main suspect in the beheading of a businessman took a “selfie” with the victim and sent the image via WhatsApp to a mobile number based in Canada.

Investigators in France were reportedly trying to find out the recipient’s identity in Canada, but weren’t able to immediately confirm media reports that it was an unnamed individual who’s now in Syria.

This has raised the possibility that the French terror suspect had links with the notorious ISIL terrorist group wreaking havoc across the Middle East specifically in Syria and Iraq.

The ISIL terrorists, many of whom were initially trained by the CIA in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the Syrian government, have seized large parts of territory in Syria and around one-third of the territory of Iraq. 

They have been carrying out horrific acts of violence such as public decapitations and crucifixions against all communities, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians.

Police in France, however, have not concluded yet that Salhi belongs to any terrorist organizations.

That’s because authorities were looking into initial claims that Salhi had recently disputed with his wife and employer, was suicidal, and had wanted to make a media splash with a killing that had the markings of terrorism.

Salhi had been said to have links to radical Salafists in the past.

The attack appeared to copy the ISIL's  decapitation of captives followed by displaying their heads in public.

The killing came after the terrorist organization called for attacks everywhere during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Salhi and his wife were immediately arrested after the attacks. Two more suspects were also arrested shortly after, allegedly in connection with the attack.

One person arrested Friday was released without being charged.

Under French anti-terrorism laws, Salhi, his wife, and the other suspect who is also a woman, can be held for up to four days before either being released or handed preliminary charges.

The incident came nearly six months after the attacks in and around Paris that killed 17 people in January and started with a shooting at the satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, in the French capital city.

HDS/NT

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