Knife attacker in Spain was suicidal — source

BARCELONA, Spain — A man shot dead as he attacked a Spanish police station had come out as gay and wanted to commit suicide, a source close to the probe says Tuesday based on testimony of the assailant’s ex-wife.

Abdel Wahab Taib, a 29-year-old Algerian man, invoked the name of Allah during the assault early Monday in the town of Cornella de Llobregat near Barcelona.

Authorities are treating the incident as a “terrorist attack” although the source, who refuses to be named, says “there don’t appear to be any signs of jihadism.”

According to the source, Taib’s ex-wife, a Spaniard who reportedly converted to Islam after meeting him, told police he had recently told her he was homosexual.

“She said they had separated, that he had revealed his homosexuality and that he was disturbed about how that fit in with the Muslim religion,” the source says.

“We’re putting this down to confusion, a suicide attempt. There are some who do it throwing themselves off a bridge, he opted for this method.

“We’re basing ourselves on his wife’s testimony, who says he had not veered towards extremism.”

David Martinez, the ex-wife’s lawyer, tells reporters the couple had signed divorce papers last Tuesday and ruled out a terror-related motivation for the attack.

— AFP