German phone card found on Paris police attacker | News | DW | 08.01.2016
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German phone card found on Paris police attacker

Doubts have been cast on the identity of the man shot dead in Paris after he tried to enter a police station with a knife. Evidence found on the man's body included a German SIM card and a different name and nationality.

The identity of the man who attempted to enter a Parisian police station with a butcher knife remains uncertain said Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins in an interview on Friday. According to Molins, the man may have given a false identity to police months ago.

Police shot and killed the man on Thursday as he attempted to gain access to the station, equipped with what turned out to be a fake explosives vest. Officials also said the man shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is Greatest") during the incident which took place on the one-year anniversary of the deadly Charlie Hebdo attacks.

"I am not at all sure the identity he gave was real," Molins told France-Inter radio on Friday. The man was homeless, and previously identified himself as Ali Sallah and said he was Moroccan when police stopped him for theft in 2013.

However, the prosecutor said authorities found a paper on the man's body which had a different name and Tunisian nationality, as well as a Muslim declaration of faith and an "Islamic State" (IS) flag. A mobile phone was also found and contained a German SIM card.

Moving forward with the investigation, Molins said: "We will need to establish the identity - know which is the real identity."

IS claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks in Paris on November 13 in which 130 people died.

rs/ng (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)

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