Is Abdallah Ahmed-Osman a jihadist adept at concealment? Or a refugee who has found in violence an outlet for his discomfort? Two days after sowing death and dread in the town center of Romans-sur-Isère (Drôme) with a knife, leaving two dead and five injured, the 33-year-old Sudanese man begins to reveal his secrets.
According to concordant sources, Ahmed-Osman admitted Sunday night in police custody that he was the attacker, but says he no longer remembers it. "He does not dispute the facts but says he can not reconstruct the process, explains a close to the investigation. He puts this in particular on the account of confinement which would have traumatized him. "
VIDEO. Romans-sur-Isère: two dead and five injured in a knife attack
The young Sudanese, arrived in France in 2016 and employed in a leather goods of Drôme, also confirmed to have gone to consult at the hospital of Romans-sur-Isère six days before the attack. He then thought he was contaminated with Covid-19, which the nursing staff would have denied. Before the investigators, Ahmed-Osman explained that he put this on the account of "anxiety".
"The impression of being watched by everyone"
On the day of the attack, he said that he “did not feel well” and “felt like he was being watched by everyone”. This is what would have started his murderous journey. As for his relationship to religion, the suspect claims that he is not a hardened practitioner, he just said prayers "from time to time" and sometimes went to the Romans mosque. He denies any adherence to the theses of the Islamic State (IS) organization.
"In the suspect, there is a cocktail of psychiatry, refugee ill-being, resentment over his place in our society and religion," observes a police source. In this case, containment certainly played a role. According to our information, the investigators of the PJ of Lyon and the anti-terrorist sub-direction (sdat) seized anxiolytics in the apartment of Abdallah Ahmed-Osman in Romans-sur-Isère.
The police are trying to find traces of his consultation at the Romans hospital, as well as possible stays in psychiatric establishments, notably in Grenoble (Isère) where he lived from between 2016 and 2018. At his home, they also seized a prayer rug, a Koran and several A4 sheets on which the suspect notably wrote in pen in French: "I no longer want to live in this land of disbelievers".
Prolonged police custody
The exploitation of its computer media, with a view to possibly finding jihadist documentation or preparatory research, is still in progress. In custody, Abdallah Ahmed-Osman agreed to give the codes of his smartphone. Five other old telephones were seized from his home as well as a USB key.
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This Monday afternoon, Abdallah Ahmed-Osman will be transferred to the premises of Sdat in Levallois-Perret (Hauts-de-Seine) to continue his police custody, extended this Monday morning. A friend of the suspect, Mustapha AM, must face the same fate in order to compare his statements with those of the suspected terrorist.
The 28-year-old Sudanese man was arrested on Saturday in the building of the suspect he was visiting, worried about his feverish state. The day before, he had confided to him his concern at the idea of being sick with Covid-19 and his dismay at the containment measures. The two men, both refugees, met a few months ago at the National Agency for Professional Training of Adults (AFPA) in Roman-sur-Isère, where Ahmed-Osman was undergoing training in leather goods. A third man, a roommate from Mustapha AM., Is expected to be released in the afternoon.
Many witnesses were heard by investigators: the neighbors and the suspect's employer, the tobacconist from whom Ahmed-Osman had bought his cigarettes for six months ... None said to have detected any sign of Islamist radicalization in the suspect. The investigation is being conducted by the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT), which is expected to open a judicial inquiry Wednesday morning.
