The father of an Egyptian suspected of being the machete attacker in Paris’s Louvre museum said yesterday that his son showed no sign of radicalisation and he believed in his innocence.
Reda El Hamahmy, a retired police general, told AFP that he had been constantly in touch with his son who worked as a sales manager in Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates.
“He went on a company trip and when it was over visited the museum. He was supposed to leave on Saturday,” El Hamahmy said.
“He is a simple guy. We all love him,” he added, saying that he had not detected any signs that his son had been radicalised.
He has disputed the police account of how his son came to be shot outside the museum.
He said the French were only accusing him of terrorism to excuse the brutality used to stop him.
“Is he alive? Is he dead? Was it really him?” he asked Reuters. “For them to say in the end that he is a terrorist is nonsense ... this is a cover up so they don’t have to apologise or justify the acts of this soldier who used brute force with a poor young man of 29.”
“The French government’s account is not logical. He was 1.65m (5’ 5”) tall and attacked four guards? 
“And in the end they found nothing in his bags,” he said.
Paint spray cans – but no explosives – were found in his backpack.
“I can show you pictures where he has no beard,” he said, referring to beards grown by some devout Muslims. “Our household is a moderate household and mind our own business.”
Hamahmy said he believed the wounded suspect was his son, Abdallah El Hamahmy, who he said has had no contact with the family since Friday.
“National Security (police) came yesterday and asked for information about him, and I gave them whatever I had,” he said.
El Hamahmy’s uncle, Riyad El Refaai, said: “I find it incomprehensible that a young man on his way to commit a terrorist act only has a knife with him.”
“If you tell me he had a gun, a rifle, then yes, I’d believe you, but I don’t know ... all we want is the truth,” he said.
Abdallah El Hamahmy is married, with his pregnant wife currently staying in Saudi Arabia with their seven-month-old son, his father said.
The attacker is believed to have entered France legally on a flight from Dubai on January 26, a French source said.
Investigators are examining a Twitter account of an Egyptian man named Abdallah El Hamahmy who posted a dozen messages minutes prior to the attack.
“In the name of Allah ... for our brothers in Syria and fighters across the world,” El Hamahmy wrote, linking to a post he wrote on his Facebook page.
“No negotiations, no compromise, steadfastness and no retreat,” he added.
His Facebook page and his Twitter account have since been suspended.
In another post on Twitter, he cited a Qur’anic verse that promises heaven to those who are killed fighting for the sake of God.
Another post questioned: “Why are they afraid of the creation of a state for Islam? Because the state of Islam defends its resources and the honour of Muslims.”
He also insulted US President Donald Trump the same day, labelling him “Donald Duck”.
He had announced his trip to France in a Twitter message on January 26.
“Travelling to Paris, France from DXB,” he wrote.
A friend of El Hamahmy said he believed the Twitter account to be that of the suspect, who he insisted had not been an extremist.
“I knew him since he graduated,” he said of El Hamahmy, who travelled to the United Arab Emirates after obtaining a law degree from Egypt’s Mansoura University.
“I didn’t pay attention to his Twitter account, but read it after the incident,” said the friend, who requested anonymity. “It’s as though it’s a different person. As though it was hacked.”