Attack in Paris: two French policemen suspected of disarmed radical Islamist radicalization

DFrench police have been disarmed because of suspicions of Islamist radicalization, it was reported Friday at the police headquarters in Paris, which was struck eight days ago by an attack committed by an official of its ranks.

"A request for suspension was made for one of them," the same source added, without further details on the duty station and the rank of the two agents.

The French police are armed with a semi-automatic pistol, which can be completed in some specialized services.

The move follows a deadly attack last week inside the police headquarters by Mickael Harpon, an employee suspected of Islamic radicalization who stabbed three police officers and an administrative agent to death.

Computer scientist, Mickaël Harpon was in charge of maintenance at the intelligence department of the police headquarters.

According to an internal report, this administrative agent converted to Islam for the last ten years had justified in 2015 to some of his colleagues the jihadist attack against the weekly Charlie Hebdo, without being the subject of a formal report. .

Castaner much criticized

This unprecedented attack, conducted in the heart of an administration supposed to be one of the spearheads of state security, is worth the Minister of the Interior, Christophe Castaner, a volley of criticism and several summons to parliament.

Pointing to a "dysfunction of the state", Christophe Castaner had estimated that the alerts on Mr. Harpon's behavior had not been made "at the right level" and "at the right time".

In an internal memo dated October 7 that AFP was aware of, the Paris police chief, Didier Lallement, had detailed "signs and clues" that could "justify triggering a reporting procedure": "Physical changes, clothing and food, the refusal to shake hands with female staff, a brutal rejection of daily habits, a withdrawal into one's self, the rejection of authority and community life ".

The police are among the recurring objectives of jihadist organizations, while France has been affected since 2015 by a wave of unprecedented Islamist attacks that has left 255 dead.