The suspect in the stabbing of three women in the Paris metro last week is French, the interior ministry said Monday, after previously saying he was an undocumented Malian ordered to leave the country.
A source with knowledge of the case, requesting anonymity because not allowed to speak to the press, said he had held a French passport since 2018, AFP reported.
The 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of having stabbed and injured three women along the Paris metro's Line 3 on Friday, then admitted to a psychiatric hospital the next day.
"The investigation uncovered a French passport belonging to the suspect," the ministry said, adding that he had not once mentioned his French nationality during previous run-ins with police.
The ministry said on Friday the man was a Malian citizen imprisoned in January last year for aggravated theft and sexual assault, and required to leave France after being released in July.
The man had been placed in an administrative detention centre, but failure to obtain a consular travel document required for his deportation meant he was released after 90 days as required by law, it said.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez last week called for "maximum vigilance" during the festive season in France.
