France knife attack suspect charged with attempted murder

ANNECY: The Syrian refugee detained in the stabbing of six people including four young children in the French Alpine town of Annecy has been charged with "attempted murder", a prosecutor said Saturday.

Abdalmasih H. "did not wish to speak" during his 48 hours in police custody nor before the magistrates leading the investigation, public prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis told a press conference.

After two psychiatric evaluations, Abdalmasih H. was deemed "compatible with police custody", she said, adding doctors determined he did not suffer from delusions.

However, she added that it was too early to diagnose or rule out other psychological pathologies at this stage.

The victims of Thursday's attack at a playground in the idyllic lakeside town popular with tourists were no longer in a life-threatening condition, Bonnet-Mathis said.

The children, aged between 22 months and three years, were initially hospitalised in a serious condition, while one adult was also seriously injured and another lightly injured.