Qatar condemns armed attack on French Church

Qatar yesterday expressed its condemnation and denunciation of the armed attack on a church in Rouen, north-west of Paris.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry stressed that “this criminal act is contradictory to all human values, ethical principles and divine teachings”, reaffirming Qatar’s position “that clearly rejects violence and terrorism regardless of the reasons and motives”.
The ministry  affirmed Qatar’s solidarity with  France, calling for the international community to combine their efforts in order to ensure “the eradication of this dangerous epidemic from its roots”.
The statement expressed Qatar’s “sincere sympathy and condolences” to the French government and people.
Yesterday’s attack saw two men storm a church in the Normandy town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray and slit a priest’s throat.
The attack, which also saw three other people taken hostage, was later claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group.
French Prosecutor Francois Molins later named  one of two militants as 19-year-old Adel Kermiche.
Kermiche was known to security services, having twice been arrested on his way to Syria, and was under house arrest and wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet at the time of the attack.
Molins said Kermiche and an unknown accomplice, armed with knives, had stormed the church, taking hostage the 86-year-old priest, three nuns and two worshippers.
One of the nuns managed to escape and call police, who, upon arrival, tried to negotiate with the hostage-takers through a small door.
Molins said police were unable to launch an assault on the church as three hostages were lined up in front of the door.
Two nuns and one worshipper then exited the church followed by the two attackers, one carrying a handgun.
Both attackers had on them a “fake explosive device covered in aluminium foil”.
The priest was found dead with his throat slit, and an 86-year-old worshipper had severe knife wounds, said Molins.
France has been shaken to the core by a series of terror strikes, and the latest comes less than two weeks after the truck massacre in Nice, which killed 84 people and was also claimed by IS.
The head of the European Commission  pledged “Europe’s solidarity and co-operation in the fight against barbarity”, in a letter to French President Francois Hollande after the church attack.