French police said Friday they believed an Algerian jihadist who planned to attack churches in the Paris region was "remote-controlled" by commanders likely in Syria, reports FRANCE 24.
A police source told AFP that Sid Ahmed Ghlam, 24, had an unusual profile and appeared to be "remote-controlled from afar by one or more mysterious men" probably based in Syria who ordered him to target French churches.
Interrogated from his hospital bed, Ghlam was not being very talkative, said police sources, adding he seemed torn between "wanting to talk (but) as if moved by some force obliging him not to say anything".
"He appeared literally under the heel of" his commanders who told him where and how to get his hands on the Kalashnikov assault rifles, pistols and bulletproof vests found by police in his car and apartment, said the police source.
Ghlam was being questioned for a fifth day Friday after his custody was extended under special French anti-terror laws that allow police to interrogate a suspect for up to six days if there is a "risk of an imminent attack".
The Algerian electrical engineering student was detained on Sunday when police made the fluke discovery of his plans to attack one or two churches in the town of Villejuif, just south of Paris.
He had called paramedics, after he apparently shot himself in the leg accidentally. Alerted by the emergency services, police later discovered an arsenal of weapons, tactical gear and cellphones in Ghlam's car and student flat.
They also found detailed plans to attack the churches and linked his DNA to the murder of a young mother who had been found shot dead in the passenger seat of her car in Villejuif on Sunday morning.
Security sources said the killing may have resulted from an attempt to steal the vehicle of 32-year-old Aurélie Chatelain.