French press review 23 July 2016

The Munich shopping centre attack is the talk of the day with questions lingering over the motives of the killer and Germany judged to be firmly on the jihadist radar. The other prominent story is that of France’s highest court, the Court of Cessation, rejecting an appeal by former finance minister Christine Lagarde over the so-called “L’Affaire Tapie”.

All the major French dailies lead with the story of last night's Munich attack.

On its website Le Monde says nine people were killed and 16 injured in the shopping centre siege by an 18 year old German-Iranian man living in Munich.

Libération reports that the body presumed to be that of the man, was found one kilometre from the shopping centre where the attack took place - that he committed suicide - and that he had acted alone - but his motives remain hazy.

President Hollande slams "a new disgusting act"

Le Monde talks of the personal message of support sent last night by President François Hollande to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, with the President referring to a "terrorist attack" and "a new disgusting act" in his message - an act aimed at stirring up fear in Germany after France was targeted last week.

"Beware of the false images" warns Le Monde in further coverage - on the proliferation of social media posts supposedly witnessing the shooting in images.

The video images diffused by a Mexican television station and falsely attributed to the attack were actually taken during a terrorist attack simulation in a British shopping mall in May.

Who was the author of the shooting? asks Le Figaro, saying the young man had been living in the Bavarian capital for two years, but was unknown to local police who say the motive of his action is "totally unclear".

Germany alert to high terrorist threat

Le Figaro claims "Germany was aware of a high threat" on its territory - and traces four previous Islamist attacks since 2011.

Germany is well on the "terrorist's viewfinder" writes the paper - but for Munich "this was the first night of real anguish". "As the gunfight broke out in the shopping centre and the perpetrators were still at large, the Bavarian capital experienced a maximum terror alert", it reports ... as a result the "psychosis of a terrorist attack had settled in" says the paper - and an "Islamist hypothesis arisen in people's minds" - well ahead of the facts being clear.

Munich comes on the heels of last week's attack - claimed by Daesh - by a 17-year-old Afghan refugee on a regional train with an axe and knife, notes Le Figaro.

The attack left three injured before the man was shot by police. Shortly beforehand, the man who lived in a home for unaccompanied minors, had released a video on Facebook, swearing allegiance to the leader of Daesh.

Le Figaro says a bomb explosion at an Indian wedding in Essen in April - and the stabbing of a policeman at Hanover Central Station in February also had jihadist links - while the very first Islamist attack on German soil was at Frankfurt airport in March 2011 when a man opened fire on US soldiers returning from Afghanistan leaving two dead and two wounded.

Ex French finance minister to face trial

Meantime La Croix and L'Humanité both talk of the affair of Christine Lagarde - the former French finance minister and International Monetary Fund chief will stand trial for alleged negligence.

France’s highest court, the Court of Cessation, yesterday rejected an appeal from Lagarde to stand trial over her role in settling a long-running legal dispute known as “L’Affaire Tapie” between French entrepreneur and former politician Bernard Tapie and the state.

Lagarde is accused of enabling the 2008 "embezzlement" of 404 million euros granted to Tapie by an arbitration tribunal.