French press review 18 July 2016

Opinion polls show nearly two-thirds of French people do not have faith in the government in the fight against terrorism. The Nice killer's profile is that of  "a brutal, elusive man" - and a stranger to religion. Nice working-class areas fear stereotypes about Muslim people will run rife after the attack.

"Terrorism - The French are demanding more toughness" is Le Figaro's lead. Four days after the Bastille Day attack in Nice, which has left 84 people dead and 256 injured - 49 of them critically.

The paper says a poll has found that 67 percent of respondents do not place their faith in the government for the fight against terrorism.

Aware of the seriousness of the threat, the French want extremely stringent measures to be taken, even if that means restricting individual freedom.

For the government the blow is a hard one, the paper judges, with nearly two-thirds of those polled in the aftermath of the Nice attack saying they have no confidence in President François Hollande and his administration on the terrorism front.

Libé probes killer's profile

All the French dailies are preoccupied with various aspects of the aftermath of the attack.

Libération turns its attention to what it calls "the trail of the killer of Nice", 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, who ploughed his truck into festive crowds over a two-kilometre killing ramapage on the seaside promenade on Thursday.

As the investigation into the killer and his entourage gets underway the paper seeks to sketch a portrait of the Tunisian truck driver.

Libération says Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, whose attack was claimed by the Islamic State armed group, had an unstable youth in Tunisia, marked by frustration and violence, followed by a violent marriage in Nice.

The general profile of the Nice killer, it writes, is that of a brutal man, elusive - and a stranger to religion.

Was he a psychotic killer, a suicidal narcissist, or a closet Islamist soldier? the paper asks, adding that 72 hours after the carnage of the Promenade des Anglais, there are many assumptions and unanswered questions circulating about Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel .

Le Monde looks to scarred Nice

Le Monde turns its gaze to the city of Nice itself in the wake of the attack with its main title declaring the city is "Suspended between pain and the need to understand". Nice remains on high alert as the identity of all victims slowly come to light the paper adds.

The story is accompanied by a front page photo of crowds gathered at a nighttime vigil on the Promenade des Anglais. The waterfront strip has turned into an ocean of wreaths as people turn out en masse to show their support and sorrow for the losses of life among both French people and foreigners.

In Tunisia - in the hometown of "the killer", as Le Monde puts it, "people are ashamed."

In other reports, Le Monde also turns to investigating Lahouaiej-Bouhlel's background and the security challenges now facing France, as the country tries to decide what extra measures are necessary, with the state of emergency extended and police forces fully stretched.

Call for peace and unity

And finally L'Humanité makes an urge for peace with its title "Against hate, the urgent need to live together". It reports that people it has talked with in working-class neighbourhoods in Nice fear stereotypes about Muslim people will run rife after the attack - with all immigrants bundled in together in the public's mind with the likes of Lahouaiej-Bouhlel.