PARIS, FRANCE: An extremist involved in the brutal killing of an elderly priest pledged to attack France in a newly released video, as Catholic bishops called for a day of prayer in a nation shaken by the latest assault.
\nThe assailant has been named as 19-year-old Abdel Malik Petitjean, who was listed in June on France\u2019s \u201cFiche S\u201d system of people posing a potential threat to national security after he tried to reach Syria from Turkey.
\nFrance reels from second \u2018terror\u2019 attack in eight months
\nPetitjean threatened France and directly addressed President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls in the footage released by the Islamic State-linked Amaq news agency.
\nDressed in a striped t-shirt, Petitjean speaks mostly in French but uses some Arabic phrases, and appears to be filming in a home.
\nPetitjean, whose face was disfigured when he was shot dead by police, had been harder to identify than his accomplice Adel Kermiche, also 19. Investigators confirmed his identity after a DNA match with his mother.
\nThe pair pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in a video made before they stormed a church in the Normandy town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray on Tuesday and slit the throat of 86-year-old priest Jacques Hamel at the altar.
\nThe president of the Conference of Bishops in France Georges Pontier called on all Catholics in the country to observe a day of national prayers and fasting Saturday \u201cfor our country and for peace in the world\u201d.
\n\u201cWe have various sentiments at this time. We know well that the only brotherhood, in our country, is the voice that leads to lasting peace. Let\u2019s build it together,\u201d he said in a statement earlier this week.
\nHamel\u2019s funeral will be held in the Gothic cathedral of nearby Rouen next Tuesday.
\nTerror in France: Islamic State owns up to Nice truck attack
\nThe church attack came as the government was already facing a firestorm of criticism over alleged security failings after the Bastille Day truck massacre in Nice that left 84 people dead two weeks ago.
\nA brief show of political unity at a mass attended by different faiths in Paris on Saturday quickly dissolved as Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve faced fresh calls to resign.
\n\u201cEven if the government is not responsible for the wave of terrorism, it is guilty of not having done everything to stop it,\u201d Laurent Wauqiez, the deputy leader of the right-wing Republicans party, said in an interview.
\nMeanwhile, President Francois Hollande responded to remarks by US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump that \u201cFrance is no longer France\u201d as a result of the attacks.
\n\u201cFrance will always be France, because France will never yield and because France is always the bearer of ideals, values and principles, for which we are recognised throughout the world,\u201d he said.
\nThe French government has said that everything possible is being done to protect citizens, while warning that more terror attacks are inevitable, after three major strikes and several smaller attacks in the past 18 months.
\nHollande on Saturday confirmed plans to create a National Guard drawn from existing reserves, after the government previously urged \u201cpatriots\u201d to sign up to become reservists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PARIS, FRANCE: An extremist involved in the brutal killing of an elderly priest pledged to attack France in a newly released video, as Catholic bishops called for a day of prayer in a nation shaken by the latest assault. The assailant has been named as 19-year-old Abdel Malik Petitjean, who was listed in June on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n