Beheading suspect to face terror charges

A man who beheaded his boss, pinned the head on a fence, and tried to blow up an industrial gas plant will be investigated on terrorism charges, the chief public prosecutor in France said, dismissing the suspect’s claim that his act was not motivated by connections with Islamist militants.

Prosecutor François Molins announced the news at the end of a 96-hour custody period following the arrest of Yassin Salhi, aged 35, at the scene of the crime near the southern city of Lyon.

The attack last Friday came five months after 17 people were killed in Paris by Islamist militants who targeted the offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical journal and a Jewish shop.