‘MY SON WAS

Dad blames drugs, alcohol, for gunman’s actions

PARIS

THE father of the man shot dead at Orly Airport here after attacking a soldier insisted on Sunday that his son was “not a terrorist” and that his actions were caused by alcohol and drugs.

Investigators were trying to understand what motivated the assault by Ziyed Ben Belgacem, 39, which led to a security scare and the temporary closure of the capital’s second-busiest airport.

By Sunday afternoon, air traffic had returned to normal, an airport authority spokesman said.

Belgacem grabbed a soldier on patrol at Orly’s southern terminal on Saturday morning. He put a gun to her head and seized her rifle, saying he wanted to “die for Allah”.

The attacker, who had fired at police in a northern suburb here earlier that morning, was shot dead by two other soldiers