Paris police search for 'bearded man seen praying' before soldier attack.

Paris police search for 'bearded man seen praying' before soldier attack.(Telegraph).

Police in Paris have obtained video footage of a bearded man "praying" shortly before he stabbed a French soldier in the neck, fuelling suspicions it was an Islamist terror attack.

The video appears to suggest that the Paris attack could be inspired by the Islamist murder of a British serviceman in London.

Anti-terrorism investigators now say they have "high quality images" of a "tall, athletic bearded man" aged about 30, possibly of North African origin, praying near the spot where he attacked the 23-year-old soldier from behind with a knife or a box-cutter on Saturday. He then fled into a crowded train station and is still at large.

"He was filmed praying near where the attack took place. After the attack he can be seen leaving the shopping centre of La Défense (business district)," a source close the investigation told Le Parisien.

The soldier, Cédric Cordiez, survived the midafternoon attack and was discharged from hospital this morning but is said to be "traumatised" by the stabbing. It was carried out three days after a British soldier was murdered on a busy London street by two men shouting Islamist slogans.

Manuel Valls, the French interior minister, said there are "elements that lead us to believe it (the French attack) could be an act of terrorism" and that police are now pursuing "serious leads".

"The photos have been shown to the other two soldiers who were on patrol with the victim and the four witnesses present at the scene of the attack," said a source close to the French investigation.

"They all recognised the author of the attack, who wasn't wearing a djellaba, contrary what some people have said."He was reportedly wearing a small hat and dark clothes.

Police are conducting DNA tests after finding a bag near the crime scene with a box cutter, a sheath for a second knife, clothes and a half-finished bottle of fruit juice. Read the full story here.

Obama Administration Refuses to Label London Attack as Terrorism.

Obama Administration Refuses to Label London Attack as Terrorism.HT: Heritage.By Daniel Kochis.

Yesterday’s appalling attack on a London street in the middle of the day, which left a British solider dead, was a barbaric act of terrorism perpetrated by Islamist fundamentalists. British Prime Minister David Cameron acknowledged the motivations behind yesterday’s cowardly act by saying:

This country will be absolutely resolute in its stand against violent extremism and terror. We will never give in to terror—or terrorism—in any of its forms. Second, this view is shared by every community in our country. This was not just an attack on Britain—and on our British way of life. It was also a betrayal of Islam—and of the Muslim communities who give so much to our country. There is nothing in Islam that justifies this truly dreadful act. We will defeat violent extremism by standing together.

In stark contrast, the Obama Administration’s response has been to avoid calling the attack terrorism, let alone terrorism motivated by a radical Islamic ideology. Instead the Administration, via the State Department, said it stood with the U.K. in the face of “such senseless violence.”
Senseless violence? One can hardly term a targeted attack on a U.K. soldier in broad daylight — where the assailants gleefully admit the radical motivation behind their attack — “senseless violence.”
Yet, use of this terminology is nothing new for the Obama Administration. “Senseless violence” is the Administration’s catch-all phrase loyally called upon whenever motivations for a despicable act should not be ascribed, lest someone take offense.
Particularly troubling is that “senseless violence” is the same terminology the Administration used when describing the terrorist attack in Benghazi that killed the American Ambassador and three other U.S. citizens.
The terrorist attack in London was indeed a senseless act of violence; however, in refusing to admit the nature and motivations behind the attack, the Obama Administration does disservice to the men and women killed in terrorist attacks. As Heritage’s Nile Gardiner advises in The Telegraph:

It’s time for President Obama to acknowledge reality. This is a global war between the free world and the forces of Islamist terror. These are not acts of “senseless violence.” They are acts of brutal terrorism aimed against Great Britain, the United States and all who defend the principles of liberty, freedom and Western-style democracy. It is important that political leaders on both sides of the Atlantic identify exactly who the enemy is, what their aims are, and why they must be emphatically defeated.

For the Administration to do otherwise would be, well, senseless.Read the full story here.