Father of alleged Louvre attacker says son is innocent - Reuters

Sunday 05-02-2017 02:37 PM

Reda Abdullah al-Hamamy, the father of Abdullah Reda al-Hamamy who is suspected of attacking a soldier in Paris' Louvre museum, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Daqahliya, Egypt, February 4, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

CAIRO, Feb 5 (Aswat Masriya) – The father of an Egyptian man who was accused of attempting to carry out a terror attack on Louvre museum in Paris, insisted his son is not a terrorist.

Abdullah al-Hamamy, 29, was shot four times after attacking one of the soldiers at the entrance of the shopping center next to the museum with a machete on Friday, while crying "Allahu Akbar".

He was carrying a backpack that contained paint spray cans but no explosives.

President Francois Hollande said the soldiers had "prevented an attack whose terrorist nature leaves little doubt".

Hamamy arrived in France on Jan.26 on a tourist visa issued in Dubai, according to French authorities. His father, Reda Al Refaai, said his son was not an Islamist terrorist.

"For them to say in the end that he is a terrorist is nonsense ... This is a cover up so they don’t have to apologise or justify the acts of this soldier who used brute force with a poor young man of 29," Reda told Reuters.

Paris prosecutor's office said on Saturday that doctors treating al-Hamamy revealed that his condition is no longer being considered as life-threatening. He added that he has been declared fit to be interviewed after his condition improved and placed in formal detention.

Egypt’s foreign ministry had condemned the attack and stressed solidarity with the French government and people but didn’t include information about the attacker.

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