France pays tribute to attack victims
TREBES: Mourners packed a church in a rural French town rocked by a deadly militant attack for a Sunday service in tribute to the victims, who included a policeman hailed as a hero for offering himself in place of a hostage.
Lieutenant-colonel Arnaud Beltrame, 44, was shot and stabbed after taking the place of a woman whom Radouane Lakdim had been using as a human shield during his attack on Friday at a supermarket in the town of Trebes.
The sleepy town of 5,000, located on the picturesque Canal du Midi, is just eight kilometres from the famed medieval walled city of Carcassone, where a silent march is planned next Saturday, the eve of Easter Day.
The bishop of Carcassonne and Narbonne celebrated the mass in Trebes’ Church of Saint-etienne to honour the four killed and three wounded in the attacks claimed by the IS group.
“We want this to stop,” said Jeanpierre Bordeaux, who came with his wife Henriette from the nearby village of Capendu to attend the remembrance mass. “We aren’t safe from anything anywhere.”
Parish priest Philippe Guitart warned against blaming Muslims in general for militant attacks. “We must... help people to learn to live together,” he said.
Representatives from the Muslim community attended the mass, which had an overflow crowd listening to the service through loudspeakers outside the small church as armed police stood by.
“We have had a long friendship with them,” Bishop Alain Planet said. “They are very aware of this sadness, which affects them as well.”
People laid bouquets of white roses outside the town hall in Trebes, with one message reading “Stop the violence, stop, stop”.
A national tribute will be held at a later date for Beltrame, who President Emmanuel Macron said had “died a hero” and deserved “the respect and admiration of the whole nation”.
Beltrame’s brother Cedric said the policeman would have known all too well the risk he was taking. “He certainly knew he didn’t stand a chance,” he said. “He gave his life for another.”
Following the worst militant attack of his presidency, Macron has called a meeting later this week of the security services who monitor individuals suspected of radicalisation.
Lakdim, 25, a petty criminal, was on a watchlist, but authorities had concluded the Moroccan-born French national did not pose a threat.
Investigators found notes referring to IS at Lakdim’s home in Carcassonne, a legal source said, including a hand-written letter in which he claimed allegiance to the militant group.
Lakdim, who was armed with a gun, knife and homemade explosive devices according to a security source, was shot dead as police moved in to end his siege of the Super U supermarket where he had holed up after a shooting spree in Carcassonne.