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France beheading attack: Yassin Salhi tells investigators he murdered and beheaded his boss because of 'problems at home and at work' France beheading attack: Yassin Salhi tells investigators he murdered and beheaded his boss because of 'problems at home and at work'
(about 9 hours later)
The van driver accused of trying to blow up a French chemicals factory has reportedly told investigators that he beheaded his boss “in a car park” because of “problems at home and at work”. The truck driver who beheaded his boss before trying to blow up a chemicals factory may have been deranged, rather than motivated by religion, French investigators believe.
In a first garbled statement about Friday’s attack, Yassin Salhi, 35, admitted on Sunday that he had murdered and beheaded his employer in a car park about an hour before he arrived at the factory. Breaking his silence after Friday’s attack, Yassin Salhi, 35, told interrogators that  he had decapitated his employer “in a car park”  because of “problems at home and at work”.
According to newspaper Le Parisien, Mr Salhi told interrogators at the headquarters of the French anti-terrorism squad in Paris that “personal problems” may have driven him to commit the crimes. Before attacking the factory near Lyon, Mr Salhi used his mobile phone to take an image of himself with the severed head of his boss, Hervé Cornara, 54. He then sent the image to a number in Toronto, Canada. French and Canadian investigators believe the number may have relayed the image to an acquaintance of Mr Salhi who is fighting with Isis in Syria.
Investigators remain convinced, however, that Mr Salhi’s links with radical Islam, including ISIS, also motivated the attack. But searches of Mr Salhi’s home in the Lyon suburbs have produced no evidence to suggest he was in contact with a terrorist network. He was taken to his home by police on Sunday to assist in a new search. There was nothing to indicate he had planned either the beheading or the attack on the Air Products chemical factory at Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, south-east of Lyon.
The van driver, a father of three, attached his employers’ head to the factory fence surrounded by banners professing faith in Islam. He then drove his van at high speed into warehouse packed with inflammable chemicals at Saint-Quentin fallavier near Lyon. “We are not sure whether he was just a believer in fundamentalist Islam who went crazy or whether we are dealing with a genuine terrorist,” an investigation source told Le Parisien newspaper.
Investigators assume that this was intended as a “suicide bombing” but the resulting explosion was weak, slightly injuring Mr Salhi and two factory employees. Mr Salhi said he had murdered the manager of his delivery company in a car park an hour before he arrived at the factory. “He spoke about personal difficulties linked to his work and family life which might have led him to commit his crime,” said the source.
Forensic investigators and gendarmes next to the fence where the head was found in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier It emerged on Saturday night Mr Salhi had taken two “selfies” of himself with the severed head of his boss, Hervé Cornara, roughly an hour before the factory attack. One of these images was sent via the telephone message service, WhatsApp, to a number in Toronto in Canada. Forensic investigators and gendarmes next to the fence where the head was found in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier
French investigators believe that this was just a staging post and the message was relayed to an acquaintance of Mr Salhi who is fighting with the radical Islamist movement Isis in Syria. The French news agency AFP reported that Salhi had quarrelled with his boss a few days ago after he dropped an expensive consignment of computer equipment.
Mr Salhi’s wife, sister-in-law and mother remained in police custody yesterday but they are not, at this stage, regarded as suspects. Just before 10am on Friday morning, Mr Salhi chained his employers’ head to a fence at the Air Products factory and placed banners professing faith in Islam. He then drove his truck, loaded with cylinders of chemicals, into the side of a warehouse, but the explosion was only weak.
Fellow workers at the local ATC transport firm where Mr Salhi had worked for 12 months said that he was cheerful, hardworking man who had no apparent problems at work. His boss, Mr Cornara, was described by employees as an “adorable” man who treated his staff well. Mr Salhi’s colleagues at the ATC transport firm said he was cheerful and hardworking.