PARIS :- The Louvre in Paris reopened to the
public Saturday morning, less than 24-hours after a machete-wielding assailant
shouting "Allahu Akbar!" was shot by soldiers. In drizzly weather, tourists filed by armed
police and soldiers outside the central Paris museum, which had been closed
immediately after Friday's attack.
The attacker was shot four times after
slightly injuring a soldier patrolling the underground mall, but the attacker's
injuries are no longer in a life-threatening, according to the Paris
prosecutor's office.
An Egyptian interior ministry official
confirmed to The Associated Press Saturday the identity of the attacker as
Egyptian-born Abdullah Reda Refaie al-Hamahmy, 28. The official said the
initial investigation found no record of political activism, criminal activity
or membership of any militant groups at home.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not
authorized to brief the media. French authorities are not "at this
stage" naming the suspect.
On the Twitter account of an "Abdallah
El-Hamahmy," tweets about a trip from Dubai to Paris were posted on Jan.
26. In the profile photo, Hamahmy is seen smiling and leaning calmly against a
wall in a blue and white sports jacket. In
another tweet on the account written in Arabic, Hamahmy went on an angry tirade
ahead of the Louvre attack, posting: "No negotiation, no compromise, no
letting up, certainly no climb down, relentless war."
In an interview with the Dubai-based news
channel al-Hadath aired Saturday, Hamahmy's father said he was shocked to learn
of his son's alleged involvement. "All I want is to know the truth and
find out whether he is dead or alive," the father said. "I am
desperate to know whether he is dead or alive."
"This is all a scenario made up by the
French government to justify the soldiers opening fire," added the father.
He denied that his son was radical or a member of any militant groups. "He
is a very normal young man," he said. Louvre visitors expressed mixed
feelings Saturday on the incident with some tourists planning to leave Paris
earlier than planned.
"We heard on the news that a terrorist
attack took place. We stayed at the hotel and we're thinking about cutting
our vacation in Paris short," said Lucia Reveron from Argentina. Others
were stoic and felt safe because of the heightened security presence. "I
went around yesterday, in the evening, and security was everywhere. Even now
when we arrived (at the Louvre) we were checked and it's secure. I don't feel
any threats," said Kurt Vellafonde from Malta.
With the spate of attacks on the country in
the last couple of years many permanent residents have become resilient, even
blasé. "There have been very good security measures taken, and it does not
scare me at all," said Regine Dechivre, laughing. "It's the phenomena
of a person a little bit disturbed. The investigation will tell us what exactly
happened," she added.
The suspect's father said Hamahmy is married
with a 7-month-old child, and in his last contact with the family said he
intended to tour the city's sites before leaving France. He sent his father a
photo of himself with the Eiffel tower in the background shortly before the
incident.
Hamahmy's brother Ahmed, who works at the
Health Ministry in Dubai, was interrogated for several hours by security
officials in the United Arab Emirates, the father said. In Egypt, several
officers from the domestic security agency visited the family home in the Nile
Delta on Friday night to question family members. The United Arab Emirates condemned the attack
after a French official said the suspect was believed to have been living in
the UAE. UAE officials offered no comment Saturday about his possible
connection to the country.
The country, which includes the Mideast
commercial hub of Dubai, is a major destination for guest workers from Egypt
and numerous other countries. Foreign residents outnumber native Emiratis
roughly four to one. "The UAE, while strongly condemning this hideous
crime, affirms its full solidarity with the friendly French Republic in these
circumstances and its support for whatever measures France may take to preserve
its security and safety of its citizens and residents," the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said in a statement. France is
working with the Emirates to build a branch of the Louvre in the federal
capital, Abu Dhabi. The project has been repeatedly delayed and is now expected
to open later this year.
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