France terrorism suspect took selfie with victim’s severed head

The attacker behind the beheading of a businessman in France is believed to have taken a selfie with the victim’s head before sending the image to an unknown recipient in Canada, officials said.

Sources close to the investigation told AFP that Yassin Salhi sent the alleged picture message shortly after he cut of his boss’ head. Salhi, a truck driver with a history of radical Islamic ties, and his wife and sister remain in police custody in the city of Lyon.

Meanwhile, French investigators were working to determine the recipient’s identity, but were not able to immediately confirm media reports that it was an unspecified person now in Syria. Jean-Christophe de Le Rue, a spokesman for Canada’s public safety minister, confirmed Canadian authorities were involved in the case but refused to share the details of the investigation.

Friday’s terrorist attack in a French factory in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier left one person dead and two injured, after the suspect rammed his vehicle into an area containing flammable liquids, causing an explosion.

The site of the actual beheading is not yet known to investigators, but the victim had likely been strangled beforehand. Police found the head of the victim dangling from the plant’s fence, framed by black flag used by Islamic State militants.

The severed head appeared to mimic Isis’s practice of beheading prisoners and displaying their heads, and came days after the militants urged attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

However, no group immediately claimed responsibility.

French authorities said Salhi had had links to radical Salafists in the past.

After Salhi’s arrest at the Air Products factory, his wife and sister, as well as an unknown fourth suspect, were also taken into custody. A spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor’s office said that one of the four suspects detained over the attack has been released.

During his detention the 35-year-old shouted “Allahou Akbar” (God is great), according to police. According to prosecution, the suspect is now cooperating with the authorities, after initially refusing to speak.

Salhi is believed to have been radicalized after contact with a man suspected of preparing attacks in Indonesia with Al-Qaeda militants in the early 2000s, a source in the investigation told the AFP. He had been investigated in the past about his alleged links with Islamist militants, but had no criminal record.

French President Francois Hollande held a security meeting with ministers on Saturday. “We have no doubt that the attack was to blow up the building. It bears the hallmarks of a terrorist attack,” Holandes said.

Separately on Saturday, hundreds of people turned out in the region to honour businessman Hervé Cornara and denounce the violence. Dozens turned out for a minute of silence in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, the town south-east of Lyon where Friday’s attack took place at an Air Products chemicals warehouse.

Several hundred people also gathered outside a housing project in the town of Fontaines-sur-Saone to honour Cornara, 54, the manager of a transportation company that had employed Salhi since March. They recalled a kind, humble man who was active in the community of the Lyon suburb.