A French man suspected of killing three people in a “racist” attack at a Kurdish cultural center in Paris has been transferred to a psychiatric unit, prosecutors said, as police and demonstrators clashed in the French capital.<\/P>
<\/P>
Prosecutors said the 69-year-old white suspect had been removed from custody for health reasons on Saturday and taken to a police psychiatric facility.<\/P>
<\/P>
The shots at the cultural center and a nearby hairdressing salon on Friday sparked panic in the city’s bustling 10th district, home to several shops and restaurants and a large Kurdish population.<\/P>
<\/P>
Three others were wounded in the attack that the suspect told investigators was attributable to his being “racist”, a source close to the case said.<\/P>
<\/P>
The Paris prosecutor said a doctor examined the suspect’s health on Saturday afternoon and deemed it “not compatible with the measure of custody.”<\/P>
<\/P>
The man’s custody was lifted and he was taken to a police psychiatric unit pending an appearance before an investigation judge as the probe continues, the prosecutor added.<\/P>
<\/P>
The shooting has revived the trauma of three unresolved murders of Kurds in 2013 that many blame on Turkey.<\/P>
<\/P>
Many in the Kurdish community have expressed anger at the French security services, saying they had done too little to prevent the shooting.<\/P>
<\/P>
The frustration boiled over on Saturday and furious demonstrators clashed with police in central Paris for the second day running after a tribute rally.<\/P>
<\/P>
The capital’s police chief Laurent Nunez told BFM television channel 31 officers and one protester were injured in the disturbances, while 11 people were arrested, “mainly for damage”.<\/P>
<\/P>
Earlier on Saturday, the Paris prosecutor had extended the suspect’s period of detention for 24 hours and gave an extra charge of acting with a “racist motive”.<\/P>
<\/P>
He was already being held on suspicion of murder, attempted murder, armed violence and violating weapons legislation.<\/P>
<\/P>
French President Emmanuel Macron has said Kurds in France were “the target of an odious attack” and ordered Nunez to meet with leaders of the Kurdish community on Saturday.<\/P>
<\/P>
– Racist violence –<\/P>
<\/P>
The suspect, who has a history of racist violence, initially targeted the Kurdish cultural centre before entering a hairdressing salon where he was arrested.<\/P>
<\/P>
He was found with a case loaded with a box of at least 25 cartridges and “two or three loaded magazines”, the source close to the case said.<\/P>
<\/P>
The weapon was a “much-used” US Army Colt 1911 pistol.<\/P>
<\/P>
Of the three wounded people, one was being given intensive care in hospital and two were treated for serious injuries.<\/P>
<\/P>
According to the Kurdish Democratic Council in France (CDK-F), the dead included one woman and two men.<\/P>
<\/P>
Emine Kara was a leader of the Kurdish Women’s Movement in France, the organisation’s spokesman Agit Polat said. Her claim for political asylum in France had been rejected.<\/P>
<\/P>
The other victims were Abdulrahman Kizil and Mir Perwer, a political refugee and artist, according to the CDK-F.<\/P>
<\/P>
A police source confirmed Kara and Kizil were among the victims.<\/P>
<\/P>
– ‘Pain and disbelief’ –<\/P>
<\/P>
Thousands of Kurds gathered at Place de la Republique in central Paris on Saturday afternoon where they held a minute of silence for the three killed and those “who died for freedom”.<\/P>
<\/P>
“What we feel is pain and disbelief because this is not the first time this has happened,” 23-year-old student Esra told AFP.<\/P>
<\/P>
Police fired tear gas after clashes erupted and the demonstrators threw projectiles at officers. AFP journalists at the scene said at least four cars were overturned and one burnt.<\/P>
<\/P>
Over 1,000 people held a similar peaceful rally in the southern port city of Marseille but it ended in clashes with officers and at least two police cars were set on fire.<\/P>
<\/P>
Three Kurdish women activists were killed in 2013 in the same area of Paris and the victims’ families have long pointed the finger at Turkey for masterminding the deaths.<\/P>
<\/P>
Despite the suspicions, there appears to be no evidence that Friday’s shooting had political motives or was linked to Turkey.<\/P>
<\/P>
Within hours of the attack, security forces fired tear gas to disperse protestors trying to break through a police cordon deployed to protect Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who had arrived at the scene.<\/P>
<\/P>
Darmanin had said Friday that while the attacker “was clearly targeting foreigners”, it was “not certain” the man was aiming to kill “Kurds in particular”.<\/P>
<\/P>
– ‘He is crazy’ –<\/P>
<\/P>
The suspect — named as William M. by French media — is a gun enthusiast with a history of weapons offences who had been released on bail earlier this month.<\/P>
<\/P>
The retired train driver was convicted for armed violence in 2016 by a court in the multicultural Seine-Saint-Denis suburb of Paris, but appealed.<\/P>
<\/P>
A year later he was convicted for illegally possessing a firearm.<\/P>
<\/P>
Last year, he was charged with racist violence after allegedly stabbing migrants and slashing their tents with a sword in a park in eastern Paris.<\/P>
<\/P>
“He is crazy, he’s an idiot,” his father was quoted as saying by the M6 television channel.<\/P>
<\/P>
Often described as the world’s largest people without a state, the Kurds are a Muslim ethnic group spread across Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran.<\/P>
<\/P>
Source: National News Agency – Lebanon<\/P>
<\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A French man suspected of killing three people in a “racist” attack at a Kurdish cultural center in Paris has been transferred to a psychiatric unit, prosecutors said, as police and demonstrators clashed in the French capital.Prosecutors said the 69-ye…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1781,2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n