French attacker denies religious motive

The man who beheaded his boss in France has denied any religious motivation, investigative sources said on Monday, muddying efforts to pin down the reasons for an attack which bore the hallmarks of a jihadist act.

Yassin Salhi, 35, on <g data-gr-id="13">Sunday</g> confessed to decapitating his employer and pinning his severed head to the fence of a gas factory in eastern France in a macabre display that included two Islamic flags. However according to a source close to the investigation, Salhi, who was known to security services for radicalisation, “denies any religious motivation to his act”.

<g data-gr-id="8">Salhi</g> drove his delivery van into the Air Products warehouse on Friday, causing an explosion and alerting firefighters who made the grisly discovery of the decapitated corpse of 54-year-old Herve <g data-gr-id="9">Cornara</g>.