Hollande scolds spooks over soldier stabbing
French President François Hollande criticized a lack of information-sharing by intelligence services on Friday, after it emerged that a Muslim convert who stabbed a soldier in Paris was known to police, who didn't pass on their concerns.
Hollande urged better intelligence coordination, noting that the new convert to Islam who stabbed a soldier at La Défense in Paris on May 25th had been on the radar of police, but the information was not passed on.
"There has to be a better follow up of local information by the intelligence services," he told the media networks France 24, RFI and TV5 Monde.
"The weakness was a piece of information which was not handled properly and it should be set right," he said.
"Every time that there is local information on an individual, it should absolutely be transmitted to the intelligence services."
A man named as Alexandre D. was arrested on Wednesday over the weekend stabbing of a soldier in Paris which came on the heels of the brutal murder of a soldier in London.
A judge charged him with "attempted murder linked to a terrorist enterprise" on Friday, after a judicial inquiry was opened earlier in the day, according to a judicial source.
Reports emerged that Alexandre D., 22, had attracted the attention of local police for his "behaviour" but this information was not shared with the intelligence services.
There were also problems with information sharing among intelligence agencies in the case of Mohamed Merah, the Islamist gunman who killed seven people, including three soldiers, in and around the southwestern city of Toulouse last year.
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Hollande urged better intelligence coordination, noting that the new convert to Islam who stabbed a soldier at La Défense in Paris on May 25th had been on the radar of police, but the information was not passed on.
"There has to be a better follow up of local information by the intelligence services," he told the media networks France 24, RFI and TV5 Monde.
"The weakness was a piece of information which was not handled properly and it should be set right," he said.
"Every time that there is local information on an individual, it should absolutely be transmitted to the intelligence services."
A man named as Alexandre D. was arrested on Wednesday over the weekend stabbing of a soldier in Paris which came on the heels of the brutal murder of a soldier in London.
A judge charged him with "attempted murder linked to a terrorist enterprise" on Friday, after a judicial inquiry was opened earlier in the day, according to a judicial source.
Reports emerged that Alexandre D., 22, had attracted the attention of local police for his "behaviour" but this information was not shared with the intelligence services.
There were also problems with information sharing among intelligence agencies in the case of Mohamed Merah, the Islamist gunman who killed seven people, including three soldiers, in and around the southwestern city of Toulouse last year.
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