PARIS — The slain hero of last week’s extremist attack in southern France was honoured Wednesday in an elaborate, daylong national homage led by French President Emmanuel Macron. The tribute came as questions were raised about possible failures by French counterterrorism officials in tracking the gunman, who was on a radicalization watch list before he went on a rampage on Friday. Macron delivered a patriotic public eulogy calling for national solidarity after last week’s attack, which together with myriad other extremist attacks on French soil have claimed more than 200 lives since 2015. After inspecting troops at the monument as a military band played a stirring rendition of the French national anthem, the Marseillaise, Macron posthumously awarded Beltrame the Legion of Honor, France’s highest award. Speaking on France Inter, Collomb said “ultimately no one thought that there would be a hasty attack” by Lakdim, a Moroccan-born French resident with dual nationality.

Source: National Post March 28, 2018 08:05 UTC