Orthodox Jew stabbed in French city of Strasbourg

STRASBOURG, France An Orthodox Jew was stabbed in the stomach in broad daylight in the French city of Strasbourg on Friday, local authorities said, by an attacker who several witnesses said shouted an Islamic religious phrase.


The 62-year-old man was recovering in hospital and his life was not in danger, a Strasbourg rabbi told Reuters.


His assailant was a man with a history of psychiatric problems, the local prefecture in the eastern French city said. It did not confirm he had shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) during the stabbing, which took place on a street.


French regional newspaper Les Dernieres Nouvelles d'Alsace said the attacker had been arrested and was being questioned by police.


No one at the Strasbourg prosecutor's office or local police was available for comment.


France, home to both the largest Jewish and Muslim populations in Europe, has been under a state of emergency since November when militants killed 130 people in Paris coordinated attacks claimed by Islamic State.


The group also claimed an assault on a Jewish supermarket in the capital in January last year in which four people died.


(Reporting by Myriam Rivet and Pierre France; writing by Michel Rose; editing by Mathieu Rosemain and John Stonestreet)

Editor's Pick