TREBES, France — A French bishop paid tribute Sunday to a police officer who lost his life after swapping himself with a supermarket employee held hostage by an Islamist extremist, saying his heroic sacrifice helped save the nation. The bishop of Carcassonne and Narbonne, Alain Planet, hailed Beltrame’s “extraordinary act, extraordinary devotion.”“It is better that one man dies for the people, so that the nation doesn’t perish,” the bishop said. The Islamic State group claimed that the attacker — Radouane Lakdim, 25, born in Morocco — was answering its call to target nations in the U.S.-led coalition fighting IS militants in Syria and Iraq. He shot at riot police, one of whom was injured, then headed to the supermarket in Trebes. French police searching Lakdim’s home in Carcassonne found notes referring to the Islamic State group that appeared to be a final testament, a judicial official said on Saturday.

Source: National Post March 25, 2018 08:03 UTC