From the Côte d'Azur to the Parisian suburbs… Six days after the knife attack on the Notre-Dame de l'Assomption basilica in Nice, which caused the death of a sacristan and two faithful, the anti-terrorism investigation began. is moved to Val-d'Oise.
This Tuesday morning, four men were arrested in a four-story building in the Sablons district in Sarcelles.
One of them, Saber C., a 29-year-old Tunisian, had several telephone contact with the assailant, Brahim A., before his attack in the church.
According to our information, it would be a cousin of the suspected terrorist, who arrived in France by the migratory route several months ago.
According to the operations of the two telephones found on the assailant, the latter sent several messages to Saber C. during his migratory journey between Tunisia, Italy and Nice.
According to sources close to the investigation, the two men have exchanges qualified as "cryptic".
They relate in large part to the assailant's journey.
In particular, he asks Saber C. for advice on the routes to be taken.
Nevertheless, in one of his writings, Brahim A. also qualifies France as "the land of disbelievers".
The police officers of the PJ of Nice, of the Antiterrorist Sub-Directorate (Sdat) and of the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI) therefore seek to know whether Saber C. may have been aware of the killer's disastrous plans, s 'he was able to influence it and more generally if he has information on his European career.
Brahim A.'s state of health has deteriorated, no hearing expected within 48 hours
After crossing the Mediterranean from Tunisia and arriving on the island of Lampedusa in Italy, Brahim A. was placed in quarantine with more than 350 migrants on the ship "Rhapsody", before disembarking on October 9 in Bari then transit through Sicily to finally reach by bus or train on October 27 in the evening of Nice, where he was spotted by surveillance cameras.
Two days later in the morning, he went to a prayer room, then to the station and finally to the Basilica of Nice where he executed three people with a knife before being injured by the municipal police.
This Tuesday, the assailant's state of health, who tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday, deteriorated.
Investigators do not expect a hearing within 48 hours.
The other three people taken into police custody on Tuesday are the tenant of the Sarcelles apartment, Salam M., 45, and two other migrants in their twenties living with him alongside the cousin of the suspected terrorist.
The 40-year-old separated from his wife and children and living in the neighborhood for seventeen years is described as "calm and affable".
"Religion is not his thing, it is rather trifecta and coffee", reports a resident.
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The "intriguing" presence of the other three men dates back several months.
“Even before the first confinement,” says a neighbor.
Is there a financial reason for their accommodation?
This is what the investigation seeks to determine.
“I cannot imagine that it could have a link with the Nice attack.
Afterwards, we can always hide… ”an acquaintance wondered.
Until these new arrests, six people had been placed in police custody since Thursday.
But all were released, with the exception of a single suspect, another 29-year-old Tunisian, arrested on Saturday in Grasse (Alpes-Maritimes).
This man, Ahmed B.-A., traveled with Brahim A. on board the boat of 21 migrants which docked in Lampedusa, then transited with him to Bari before their routes separated to come to France.
In police custody, Ahmed B.-A.
denies having been aware of the terrorist project of his traveling companion.
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VIDEO. Nice attack: a police officer explains the course of the attack which killed 3 people