Lyon bomb suspect had pledged allegiance to Islamic State

PARIS — The main suspect in the bombing last week in the French city of Lyon that wounded 14 people had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, France’s counterterrorism prosecutor said on Friday.

Remy Heitz said in a statement the 24-year-old man has admitted making the bomb and depositing the device in front of a bakery. He will be brought before an investigating judge.

The suspect, identified only as Mohamed Hichem M., was arrested on Monday. He arrived in France on a tourist visa in August 2017 but never left. Police did not give his nationality but some French media reported that he was Algerian. He was unknown to police services before the incident.

He could be charged with attempted murder, criminal terrorist conspiracy and manufacturing, possessing and carrying an explosive device in relation with a terrorist undertaking.

French President Emmanuel Macron had called the explosion an “attack” but no group has claimed responsibility for the explosion yet.

Last week, Heitz described video surveillance that showed a man heading toward the center of Lyon on a bike. He was seen arriving on foot, pushing his bike along a pedestrian-only street, then leaving a paper bag on a concrete block in the middle of the street. The suspect immediately returned to his bike and left the same way. One minute later, the explosion shattered the glass of a refrigerator in the bakery.

The suspect initially denied his involvement, then admitted “pledging allegiance to the Islamic State deep down inside,” Heitz said.