Annecy stabbings suspect held over attempted murders

A man suspected of stabbing four young children in a playground in the French resort of Annecy is being held on attempted murder charges, French prosecutors say.

The children, aged between one and three, were attacked with a knife in a park in the Alpine region on Thursday.

Prosecutors said the actions of Syrian-born Abdelmassih Hnoun did not appear linked to terrorism.

The suspect, 31, had remained silent in police interviews, prosecutors said.

He has been taken before a judge, formally placed under investigation for attempted murder, and will remain in custody.

The brutal attack on victims so young - its horror captured on video - has shocked France.

President Emmanuel Macron described it as an "act of cowardice" and travelled to the south-eastern region on Friday to visit victims and their families in hospital.

The attack has also fuelled further fierce debate about immigration policy in France, after it was found that the suspect has refugee status in Sweden and had also unsuccessfully been seeking asylum in France, Italy and Switzerland.

Prosecutors said the four children - including a British girl who was on holiday with her parents in Annecy - were no longer in critical conditions in hospital.

The British girl was stabbed once by the attacker and was gravely wounded but did not sustain life-threatening injuries, prosecutors said.

Two adults who were also injured during the attack are also out of danger.

One of the adults, who was first stabbed by the attacker, was also hit by a police bullet while officers were attempting to stop the assailant, prosecutors confirmed.

French television broadcast pictures of the suspect - whose name has not been officially released - being moved from the police station, ahead of his appearance before a judge.

BFM images showed the suspect being carried on a stretcher to a black car at the rear of the police station, and then a convoy of vehicles leaving the area.