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French search home of beheading suspect

Prisoner brought in bid to find any terrorism links

Suspect Yassine Salhi, with a towel over his head, was led by police investigators to his residence outside Lyon, France.Laurent Cirpriani/Associated Press

SAINT-PRIEST, France — Police investigators wearing masks escorted a man accused of a beheading to his home in southeastern France on Sunday, searching for a possible international terror link to the killing after he sent a photo of the victim to a contact in Syria, a security official said.

Yassine Salhi, 35, was handcuffed and wearing jeans, a knee-length djellaba robe, and a loose towel over his head when judicial police led him into his residence in the town of Saint-Priest, outside the city of Lyon.

The official said police were searching for Salhi’s passport, to determine if he had traveled abroad before Friday’s attack, which authorities are calling France’s first deadly terror attack since a killing spree in the Paris area in January.

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Salhi, a truck deliveryman and father of three with a history of ties to Islamic extremists, admitted earlier to the killing of the manager of the transportation company that had employed him since March, officials said.

The official also said Salhi had sent a macabre ‘‘selfie’’ photo of himself and the victim to a man identified only as Younes, who reportedly has been in war-torn Syria since last year. Investigators have found no links to any international terror group.

The suspect and police spent about an hour in Salhi’s home. It wasn’t immediately clear if police found what they were looking for. Sirens blaring, the police returned him to the Lyon police station where he was initially questioned.

Another security official said authorities were looking into initial claims by Salhi to police that he had recently argued with his wife and employer, was suicidal, and had wanted to make a media splash with a killing that had the markings of terrorism.

The severing of the head appeared to imitate the practice of Islamic State militants, who have beheaded prisoners and displayed their heads publicly. The killing came after the militants urged attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. French authorities say Salhi had links to radical Salafists in the past.

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The suspect is accused of crashing his truck into a US-owned chemical warehouse on Friday, setting off an explosion, and hanging his employer’s head on the factory’s gate. He was quickly arrested. Officials had previously said he sent the selfie of himself and the victim to a Canadian mobile phone number.

French police on Sunday lifted a 48-hour secure perimeter around the site of the warehouse in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier near Lyon. Images show the damage sustained in the blast.

Also Sunday, after two days in custody for questioning in Lyon, Salhi’s wife and sister were released, said the officials. They spoke only on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls said ‘‘we cannot accept barbarity’’ and estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Salafists — who preach an ultraconservative form of Islam — were present in France.

‘‘We are living under a major terrorist threat, and this terrorist threat is going to last,’’ Valls told i-Tele TV. ‘‘We should know we’re going to fight this terrorism over the long term.’’

The chemical warehouse attack highlighted the scope of the threat facing France. Five months after three homegrown extremists killed 17 people in and around Paris, officials were warning the nation to brace for more terrorist attacks.

In April, Valls said authorities had, in recent months, foiled five terrorism plots.

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France has taken steps to bolster its counterterrorism efforts and to prevent radical recruitment, including a sweeping surveillance law passed in recent days. But analysts say the security problem confronting the country outweighs the ability of the nation’s intelligence services to respond.

France, which has Europe’s largest Muslim population, has seen more of its nationals and legal residents — over 1,200 — leave in recent years to join radical Islamists fighting in Syria and Iraq than have left from any other nation in the region.