French Minister To Go On Mediterranean Tour To Discuss Security Issues After Terror Attack

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd November, 2020) French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin will pay an official visit later this week to the three Mediterranean countries of Tunisia, Algeria and Malta to discuss security issues, including the deportation of undesirable individuals, in the wake of a terror attack with a knife in Nice, France's BMFTV news channel reported on Monday.

Darmanin will submit to his Mediterranean counterparts a list of persons who France wants to deport to these countries, the broadcaster said, adding that the tour is scheduled to start this Friday.

The minister has noted that France currently lives "in a state of war," warning against further possible attacks throughout the country.

On October 29, a 21-year-old Tunisian man, later identified as Brahim Aoussaoui, killed three people with a knife in the Notre-Dame Basilica in Nice. The French government has designated the incident as a terrorist attack.

The attacker is currently at a Nice hospital due to injuries received by police during the arrest. Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi said that the man repeatedly shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is great") during the assault. According to the French authorities, the attacker crossed into France from Italy at the start of October.

A counter-terrorism probe is underway. A total of six people have reportedly been questioned on suspicion of being connected to the attacker.

A day after the Nice attack, another took place on Saturday in France's Lyon, when a 52-year-old Greek Orthodox priest, Nikolaos Kakavelaki, was shot at and injured in the city's 7th district near a Greek church. The priest is now in the hospital in serious condition. The gunman fled the scene of the shooting and is likely still at large, as Lyon police have released the initial suspect in the attack.

The Lyon and Nice attacks occurred as France is experiencing national dismay in the wake of an increasing Islamic threat following the brutal murder of French history teacher Samuel Paty by a radicalized teenager in mid-October.