Motive unclear in France beheading attack

Even as French investigators piece together a clearer picture of events that led on Friday to the beheading of a transport firm manager and attempted destruction of a chemicals plant, the real motivation of the chief suspect remains elusive.

Yassin Salhi, the 35-year-old delivery man who killed his boss, was a father of three with a permanent job and an apartment in a Lyon suburb, and a clean criminal record.

He has denied any religious motivation, despite an attack which bore the hallmarks of a jihadist act.

On Sunday, he confessed to decapitating his employer and pinning his severed head to the fence of a gas factory in eastern France in a macabre display that included two Islamic flags.

However, sources said he “denies any religious motivation to his act”.

“He hasn’t explained” why he attached the head to the fence, or shouted out “Allahu Akbar”(God is greatest) as firefighters overpowered him as he attempted to open bottles of acetone in a warehouse at the factory, a source told reporters.

However, Salhi had in the past frequented with Islamic radicals and was one of thousands of hardliners who caught French authorities’ attention among an overwhelmingly moderate Muslim population of 5m.

Initial searches of his home turned up no weapons cache, propaganda material, or evidence of accomplices.

According to local media, Salhi told police he argued with his boss and his wife before the killing and wanted to commit suicide.

“We don’t know whether we’re dealing with a fundamentalist who flipped or a real terrorist,” one source close to the investigation said. “Investigators are wondering whether this isn’t just a simple criminal act.”