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| French Authorities Hold Suspect in Beheading and Explosion at Chemical Plant | French Authorities Hold Suspect in Beheading and Explosion at Chemical Plant |
| (about 14 hours later) | |
| ST.-PRIEST, France — A deliveryman who French security officials say once had links to radical Islamist groups drove his truck into an American-owned chemical plant near Lyon on Friday, set off an explosion and, in a macabre twist, mounted his boss’s severed head on the plant’s gate. | |
| Flags were placed on either side of the gruesome display, French officials said. | Flags were placed on either side of the gruesome display, French officials said. |
| The interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, identified the suspect, who was apprehended, as Yassine Salhi, 35, a resident of nearby St.-Priest, a small town outside Lyon, in southeastern France. | The interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, identified the suspect, who was apprehended, as Yassine Salhi, 35, a resident of nearby St.-Priest, a small town outside Lyon, in southeastern France. |
| Mr. Salhi was known to the employees and was waived in. He parked his truck at the end of an alley and for a few minutes was out of the range of security cameras. Then his truck could be seen speeding toward a hangar on the site, and there was an explosion that destroyed much of the structure, said François Molins, the Paris prosecutor. | Mr. Salhi was known to the employees and was waived in. He parked his truck at the end of an alley and for a few minutes was out of the range of security cameras. Then his truck could be seen speeding toward a hangar on the site, and there was an explosion that destroyed much of the structure, said François Molins, the Paris prosecutor. |
| Firefighters and emergency workers arrived on the scene within four minutes. As they were assessing the damage and securing the area, they went into a second hangar that held canisters of liquid air, acetone and gas. They found Mr. Salhi trying to open one of the canisters. The firefighters apprehended him and turned him over to the police. | Firefighters and emergency workers arrived on the scene within four minutes. As they were assessing the damage and securing the area, they went into a second hangar that held canisters of liquid air, acetone and gas. They found Mr. Salhi trying to open one of the canisters. The firefighters apprehended him and turned him over to the police. |
| Near Mr. Salhi’s destroyed vehicle they found a decapitated body on the ground with a knife nearby, and on the plant’s gate, the severed head and a cloth with the Muslim declaration of faith written on it: “There is no God but God and Muhammad is his prophet.” | Near Mr. Salhi’s destroyed vehicle they found a decapitated body on the ground with a knife nearby, and on the plant’s gate, the severed head and a cloth with the Muslim declaration of faith written on it: “There is no God but God and Muhammad is his prophet.” |
| It is not clear if the victim was killed before being beheaded and driven into the site, or if he was killed on the site when Mr. Salhi was out of the range of the security cameras. Mr. Molins described the victim as a 54-year-old man who lived in the area and who had employed Mr. Salhi in March. | It is not clear if the victim was killed before being beheaded and driven into the site, or if he was killed on the site when Mr. Salhi was out of the range of the security cameras. Mr. Molins described the victim as a 54-year-old man who lived in the area and who had employed Mr. Salhi in March. |
| Security officials had identified Mr. Salhi as having connections to Salafists, but surveillance on him was stopped in 2008. Salafists practice a fundamentalist form of Islam. The reason for stopping the surveillance was not immediately clear, but French intelligence officials have been overwhelmed in recent years as they have tried to monitor hundreds of young Muslims who have gone abroad to fight alongside the Islamic State and other groups. Mr. Cazeneuve emphasized that while Mr. Salhi was known to have links to Salafists, he was not believed to have links with terrorist groups. | Security officials had identified Mr. Salhi as having connections to Salafists, but surveillance on him was stopped in 2008. Salafists practice a fundamentalist form of Islam. The reason for stopping the surveillance was not immediately clear, but French intelligence officials have been overwhelmed in recent years as they have tried to monitor hundreds of young Muslims who have gone abroad to fight alongside the Islamic State and other groups. Mr. Cazeneuve emphasized that while Mr. Salhi was known to have links to Salafists, he was not believed to have links with terrorist groups. |
| There was no indication that Mr. Salhi was aligned with the Islamic State. However, after Frenchmen who professed allegiance to the Islamic State and Al Qaeda killed 17 people in attacks on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, in a southern Paris suburb and on a Jewish grocery store in Paris in January, the authorities here and elsewhere in Europe have grown increasingly concerned that citizens who have gone abroad to fight will return to stage attacks, or that Muslims who never left for jihad will be inspired by appeals over the Internet to act. | |
| The chemical plant was attacked on the same day that terrorist attacks killed at least 38 people in Tunisia and at least 25 in Kuwait. There was immediate speculation that the attacks were part of a coordinated effort, perhaps orchestrated by the Islamic State, to sow mayhem during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. | The chemical plant was attacked on the same day that terrorist attacks killed at least 38 people in Tunisia and at least 25 in Kuwait. There was immediate speculation that the attacks were part of a coordinated effort, perhaps orchestrated by the Islamic State, to sow mayhem during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. |
| Antiterrorism prosecutors in Paris said they had opened an investigation into murder and attempted murder “in an organized group with a terrorist undertaking.” However, given the work connection between Mr. Salhi and the victim, there may have been additional motivations for the attack. | Antiterrorism prosecutors in Paris said they had opened an investigation into murder and attempted murder “in an organized group with a terrorist undertaking.” However, given the work connection between Mr. Salhi and the victim, there may have been additional motivations for the attack. |
| It is similarly unclear why the plant was attacked. Although the initial conjecture was that it was because it was an American company, it seemed that Mr. Salhi’s interest might have been in the explosive substances on the grounds. | It is similarly unclear why the plant was attacked. Although the initial conjecture was that it was because it was an American company, it seemed that Mr. Salhi’s interest might have been in the explosive substances on the grounds. |
| Mr. Molins said four people had been arrested in all: Mr. Salhi, his wife, his sister and another person. | Mr. Molins said four people had been arrested in all: Mr. Salhi, his wife, his sister and another person. |
| Mr. Salhi had moved to the area only recently, according to his neighbors. Everyone interviewed, including his wife, who was reached by telephone by the radio station Europe 1 before the police detained her, said they found it hard to believe he would have been involved in an attack. | Mr. Salhi had moved to the area only recently, according to his neighbors. Everyone interviewed, including his wife, who was reached by telephone by the radio station Europe 1 before the police detained her, said they found it hard to believe he would have been involved in an attack. |
| In the interview, his wife sounded confused and shocked that her husband had been involved in an attack at the local chemical installation, operated by Air Products. | In the interview, his wife sounded confused and shocked that her husband had been involved in an attack at the local chemical installation, operated by Air Products. |
| “What did he want to do in this chemical factory?” she asked, adding that he had gone to work as usual that morning. “We are celebrating Ramadan. We have three children and a normal family life.” | “What did he want to do in this chemical factory?” she asked, adding that he had gone to work as usual that morning. “We are celebrating Ramadan. We have three children and a normal family life.” |
| A neighbor, Abdel Baiya, 53, who works at the Édouard-Herriot river port nearby, described Mr. Salhi as “a very normal person, a family man who played with kids out here,” pointing to the patch of grass outside the building. | A neighbor, Abdel Baiya, 53, who works at the Édouard-Herriot river port nearby, described Mr. Salhi as “a very normal person, a family man who played with kids out here,” pointing to the patch of grass outside the building. |
| “In the six months that he has been here, I saw him two, three times,” Mr. Baiya added. “He didn’t seem like the kind of guy who wanted to meet lots of new people.” | “In the six months that he has been here, I saw him two, three times,” Mr. Baiya added. “He didn’t seem like the kind of guy who wanted to meet lots of new people.” |
| The Lyon area, like many urban centers in France, is home to a large number of Muslims. The rector of Lyon’s Grand Mosque said there were 150,000 to 200,000 in the urban area. While a handful of the mosques practice the Salafist form of Islam, the vast majority do not. Another Muslim official in the area said he could count on one hand the number of Salafist mosques. | The Lyon area, like many urban centers in France, is home to a large number of Muslims. The rector of Lyon’s Grand Mosque said there were 150,000 to 200,000 in the urban area. While a handful of the mosques practice the Salafist form of Islam, the vast majority do not. Another Muslim official in the area said he could count on one hand the number of Salafist mosques. |
| Mr. Salhi did not attend a mosque in St.-Priest, said an official at the local Muslim organization, the Association for Peace for All. Another Muslim official said Mr. Salhi went to the Salafist-leaning mosque at Vénissieux, a town whose Muslim community has been noted for having more conservative views as well as some residents who have tried to go to Syria. | Mr. Salhi did not attend a mosque in St.-Priest, said an official at the local Muslim organization, the Association for Peace for All. Another Muslim official said Mr. Salhi went to the Salafist-leaning mosque at Vénissieux, a town whose Muslim community has been noted for having more conservative views as well as some residents who have tried to go to Syria. |
| President François Hollande, who spoke from Brussels, where he was when the news of the attack first broke, urged the country to rally together. “Everybody remembers what happened in our country, and not just in our country,” Mr. Hollande said, referring to the attacks at Charlie Hebdo and at the kosher grocery. He said it was important not to “give in to fear” and not to create “useless divisions.” | President François Hollande, who spoke from Brussels, where he was when the news of the attack first broke, urged the country to rally together. “Everybody remembers what happened in our country, and not just in our country,” Mr. Hollande said, referring to the attacks at Charlie Hebdo and at the kosher grocery. He said it was important not to “give in to fear” and not to create “useless divisions.” |