French Prime Minister Manuel Valls warned the country against what he called the “Trumpisation” of the mind.Valls regretted the increasing calls for escalating the security narrative, and said: “I see, too, in the escalation of the proposals, to climb the temptation to put into question the rule of law. The authority is for me an essential value, but to question the rule of law, would undermine our values and would be the greatest renunciation”.
Referring to US presidential candidate Donald Trump’s controversial plan to ban the entry of Muslims in his country, Valls said: “The response to the Islamic State cannot be the ‘Trumpisation’ of minds”.
Terrorism, he said, was “part of our daily life for a long time”, and rejected calls for undermining of the rule of law in the name of fighting terrorism.
Making an emotional statement on Sunday, Nice mayor Philippe Pradal said: “Do not be afraid…At this moment …I can think only of the dead and the wounded, innocent victims of incredible savagery”.
“Nice, a city open to the Mediterranean and to the world, welcoming in all respects with those who docked there, and accost all those who love and respect; Nice, how will she overcome the outrage?”
“But Nice, I know, will overcome by continuing to live proudly in the face of life. Because Nice is what it is, a city lighthouse, a place that the whole world is watching, it cannot give success to these barbarians”, he added.
Investigators continued to comb through the attacker’s mobile phone and other details, while officials in Paris invited people to join the country’s reserve forces to deal with the threat of terrorism.
Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel visited the Nice promenade with his rented truck on the two days before he smashed the vehicle into a crowd of people watching Bastille Day fireworks in the French Riviera city on Thursday night, according to a source close to the probe.
Bodies were left strewn across the storied seafront in the grisly attack by a man described by those who knew him as a loner with tendencies towards violence and depression.
While some family and friends had described the 31-year-old as someone who smoked, drank and never went to the mosque, others questioned by police indicated “a recent swing to radical Islam”, said a police source.
However, there has been no overt evidence linking him to the Islamic State group, which on Saturday claimed the attack.
In Nice, many people were still desperately looking for news of their loved ones among the dead and 121 still hospitalised.
“We have no news, neither good nor bad,” said Lithuanian Johanna, who was looking for her two friends, aged 20.
At least 10 children were among the dead as well as tourists from the United States, Ukraine, Switzerland and Germany and about 10 from Russia, a local Russian association said.
A man and a woman were arrested on Sunday and were being held alongside four people arrested earlier. Lahouaiej-Bouhlel’s estranged wife was released after two days of questioning.
One of those held is a 22-year-old, suspected of lending logistical support to Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, said his lawyer Jean-Pascal Padovani.
He said the two had only known each other a few months and that “there is no material evidence” against his client.
@Agency report.
