Christians, Muslims to mourn murdered French priest

Paris / AFP

Muslim and Christian groups will hold vigils for a French priest murdered by extremists on Saturday, as authorities charged a man in connection with the brutal church attack that rocked the nation.
A shellshocked France is still coming to terms with the extremist murder of a priest at his altar that has sparked fears of tensions between religions in the secular nation.
In a bid to forge togetherness between the communities, a regional Muslim council has planned a “brotherhood march” in the southeastern city of Lyon.
A church in Bordeaux said it would hold a non-denominational vigil for the 85-year-old Jacques Hamel, who had his throat slit by IS-inspired teenaged attackers.
And prayers were also planned at the Saint-Etienne church where the killing took place as Hamel was celebrating mass on Tuesday.
‘Criminal conspiracy’
Meanwhile, police were still trying to piece together links to the two 19-year-olds who carried out the attack, Adel Kermiche and Abdel Malik Petitjean—both of whom were on intelligence services’ radar and had tried to go to Syria. On Friday, authorities filed charges against a 19-year-old man accused of “criminal conspiracy with terrorists” after police discovered a mobile phone video of one of the assailants at his home.
Police were still questioning Petitjean’s cousin and a Syrian refugee, after a photocopy of his passport found at Kermiche’s house.
A 16-year-old was released but could ultimately face a separate investigation for possessing extremist propaganda, authorities added. A source close to the enquiry said that a 17-year-old, who had tried to travel to Syria with Kermiche, was arrested in Geneva and sent back to France just a few days before the attack.
However, “nothing suggests he was in any way implicated in the attack” at this stage, the source added.
Both Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve have come under fire for perceived security failings.