A sombre ceremony was held in France today to remember the victims of the Nice Notre-Dame Basilica knife attack which left one woman beheaded and two others dead.
Brahim Aoussaoui, 21, allegedly beheaded Nadine Devillers, 60, slit the throat of sexton Vincent Loques, 55, and knifed mother-of-three Simone Barreto Silva, 44, in the coastal city on October 29 – before he was shot and taken away by police.
Speaking during a memorial ceremony in Nice today, French Prime Minister Jean Castex vowed that the government would keep ‘fighting relentlessly’ against radical Islam.
‘We know the enemy. Not only has it been identified, but it has a name, it is radical Islam, a political ideology that disfigures the Muslim religion,’ Castex said in a speech.
‘(It is) an enemy that the government is fighting relentlessly by providing the necessary resources and mobilising all of its forces everyday,’ he added.
Prince Albert of Monaco, 62, attended the ceremony in Nice alongside his wife Princess Charlene, 42, who cut a sleek figure in dark grey and black.
Former-French President Nicolas Sarkozy also paid his respects, as did Nice mayor Christian Estrosi and French justice minister Eric Dupond-Moretti.
Prince Albert of Monaco (pictured with his wife Princess Charlene) attended a special ceremony paying tribute to the victims of the Nice Notre-Dame Basilica knife attack which left one woman beheaded and two others dead
The Prince, 62, attended the Nice ceremony alongside his wife Princess Charlene, 42, who cut a sombre figure in dark grey and black
The royal couple paid tribute to Nadine Devillers, 60, sexton Vincent Loques, 55, and mother-of-three Simone Barreto Silva, 44, who died in a horrifying knife rampage in the coastal city on October 29. Pictured: Relatives pay tribute next to pictures of those who died
Police officers stand guard during a ceremony to pay tribute to the victims of the deadly Nice knife attack on October 29
Former-French President Nicolas Sarkozy (pictured) also paid his respects, as did Nice mayor Christian Estrosi and French justice minister Eric Dupond-Moretti
French Prime Minister Jean Castex (right) stands during a ceremony for the victims of the recent attack at the Nice Notre-Dame Basilica
Brahim Aoussaoui, 21, allegedly beheaded Nadine Devillers, 60, slit the throat of sexton Vincent Loques, 55, and knifed mother-of-three Simone Barreto Silva, 44, in the coastal city on October 29 – before he was shot and taken away by police. Pictured: A ceremony for the victims today
Aoussaoui transited through Italy last month en route to France.
During the attack, he arrived in Nice at around 6.30am via the railway station, where he quickly changed his clothes.
CCTV then showed him arriving in the church at 8.30am and staying there for nearly half an hour.
French anti-terror prosecutors said Aoussaoui attacked worshippers in the heart of the Mediterranean resort city with a foot-long blade. He is still in a critical condition after being shot by municipal police and was transferred to a Paris hospital on Friday.
Speaking during a memorial ceremony in Nice today, French Prime Minister Jean Castex (centre) vowed that the government would keep ‘fighting relentlessly’ against radical Islam
‘We know the enemy. Not only has it been identified, but it has a name, it is radical Islam, a political ideology that disfigures the Muslim religion,’ Castex (pictured) said in a speech
Mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi (right), and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy (left) welcome Prince Albert II of Monaco and Princess Charlene of Monaco
The Nice attack followed the beheading of a schoolteacher in a suburb of Paris on October 16.
History teacher Samuel Paty was decapitated for showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a civics class discussion on free speech on October 16.
He became the subject of an online hate campaign over his choice of lesson material – the same images which unleashed a bloody assault by Islamist gunmen on the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo five years ago.
Nice terror attack victim Nadine Devillers, 60, is pictured in a photograph before the horrific incident. Ms Devillers (pictured) was a regular parishioner at the Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption Cathedral
Simone Barreto Silva, a 44-year-old Brazil-born mother of three was one of the victims of an attack on a church in Nice on Thursday. The former samba dancer is pictured here with Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho
Silva raised the alarm about the attack before dying. Her last words to paramedics were: ‘Tell my children that I love them’
Vincent Loques, 54, a sacristan of the Notre Dame basilica, was brutally killed in the horrific attack on October 29
Relatives pay tribute in front of a picture of Nadine Devillers, 60, who was beheaded in the Nice attack on October 29
Nice mayor Christian Estrosi (right) and former French president Nicolas Sarkozy (left) welcome Prince Albert II of Monaco and Princess Charlene of Monaco
Nice terrorist Brahim Aoussaoui is seen in a photograph taken at the Italian port city of Bari
The father of one of Paty’s pupils, who started the social media campaign even though his daughter was not in class when the cartoons were shown, is among seven people charged over the attack.
He had exchanged messages with the killer, 18-year-old Chechnya-born Abdullakh Anzorov, via WhatsApp in the days leading up to the murder.
Ricard said that two teenagers – aged 14 and 15 – were also among the those being prosecuted for their part in a group who shared €300-350 (£270-£315) offered by the killer to help identify Paty.
The pair stayed with Anzorov for more than two hours waiting for the 47-year-old father of one even after the killer told them he wanted to ‘humiliate and strike’ Paty over the Muhammad caricatures, seen as offensive by many Muslims.
Anzorov decapitated Paty with a knife and tweeted an image of the teacher’s severed head on Twitter before he was shot dead by police.