Suspect in French mosque attack turns himself in to Italian police

The suspect in a fatal knife attack at a mosque in southern France has surrendered to police in Italy, authorities said on Monday.

An investigating judge must now determine the motive behind Friday's attack, according to prosecutor Abdelkrim Grini, broadcaster France Info reported.

Authorities have not ruled out Islamophobia as a possible factor.

The 21-year-old Frenchman, who was the subject of a police manhunt, turned himself in late Sunday at a police station in Pistoia, northern Italy, several hundred kilometres from the scene of the crime.

On Friday, a man entered a mosque in the small town of La Grand-Combe and fatally stabbed a young Muslim worshipper about 50 times.

After the assault, he filmed the victim while shouting insults at Allah.

At the time of the attack, the victim and perpetrator were alone in the building. The body was discovered later that morning by other visitors to the mosque.