French minister rejects resignation calls over police killings
Reuters
Published Oct 06, 2019 10:59AM ET
Updated Oct 06, 2019 11:11AM ET
French minister rejects resignation calls over police killings
PARIS (Reuters) - France's interior minister rejected opposition calls for his resignation on Sunday but acknowledged opportunities had been missed to prevent the killing of four police personnel by a radicalized colleague.
"Obviously there were failings, because three men and a woman have been killed," the minister, Christophe Castaner, told TF1 television of a rampage by a man armed with a knife at the main Paris police headquarters on Thursday.
Mickael H, a 45-year-old IT specialist with security clearance, killed three officers and one civilian employee before he was shot dead by another officer.
Earlier signs of the Muslim convert's support for violent extremism have come to light.
Colleagues had flagged comments he made in 2015 celebrating the Islamist attack on satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, in which 12 people were killed, but no action was taken.
A senior officer had interviewed the colleagues in July 2015 and asked them "whether they wanted to file an administrative report", Castaner said on Sunday. "But they decided not to."
He added: "If at that time there had been a deeper and more effective investigation, I believe we could have avoided this situation."
Castaner was appointed last year to the government of President Emmanuel Macron, who succeeded President Francois Hollande in 2017.
Some opposition politicians have accused the government of playing down the missed clues in the immediate aftermath of the killings and said Castaner should resign.
"The question does not even arise," Castaner said. From the start, he said, "we made it clear we weren't ruling anything out ... And there was no suggestion of radicalisation in this individual's administrative file - unfortunately."
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.