Man accused of Arras mosque attack had history of psychiatric problems

A Muslim man who attacked worshippers at a French mosque with a bat in the northern city of Arras near the Belgian border on Friday, killing one person and seriously wounding another, is under psychiatric observation, a prosecutor said. 

Reuters/Vincent Kessler

The 32-year-old was placed in a psychiatric hospital shortly after the attack in Arras near the Belgian border but has not yet been interviewed by police.

The other victim with serious injuries was meanwhile "in a critical condition and still in a coma," said Mohammed Messaoudi, the head of the body which runs the Annour mosque in Arras.

Messaoudi said the attacker, "who lived alone and was jobless," had come out of hospital three weeks ago and his mother had asked that he be readmitted.

He is believed to have earlier attacked a church and two other mosques.

"He is a young Muslim who attended the mosque and was known as someone unbalanced," Abdelkader Assouedj, regional representative for the Federation of the Grand Mosque of Paris, told the French news agency.

He said the man had been asked not to return to the mosque because of his "odd behaviour" during prayers but had turned up on Friday.