Releasing church attacker was a mistake, says French PM

Paris, July 29 (IANS) French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Friday acknowledged that the previous release of Adel Kermiche, one of the two perpetrators of the attack on a Normandy church, was a mistake.

Valls said the court releasing Kermiche and subjecting him to electronic surveillance in the months leading up to the attack was a blunder, but rejected the fight against terrorism should turn to creating a French Guantanamo, EFE news reported.

However, he would not fall into blaming the judges for the terrorist act, Valls said, explaining that every court decision is of incredibly complex factors.

The Prime Minister said he was open to any proposal for improving the fight on terrorism, as long as it did not go against the rule of law, and stressed that locking individuals in centres on the sole basis of suspicion was morally and legally unacceptable.

Kermiche and second suspect Abdel Malik Petitjean took hostage six people in a Normandy church on July 26, before slitting the throat of an 84-year-old priest and seriously wounding another hostage. They were shot dead by police.

In a video broadcast by IS official Amaq news agency, the two teenagers pledged allegiance to them.