Suspect in France playground stabbing charged with attempted murder

French judges have filed preliminary charges of attempted murder against a man accused of stabbing four children and two adults in a park in the town of Annecy.

The suspect is a 31-year-old Syrian national with permanent residency in Sweden. 

At a press conference on Saturday, lead prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis said the man had been presented to investigating judges in the lakeside town and handed charges of attempted murder and "rebellion with a weapon".

He is in custody pending further investigation.

Victims out of danger

The prosecutor said the victims are no longer in life-threatening condition after Thursday's attack.

The four children remained in hospital on Saturday.

The six victims came from four different countries: France, Britain, the Netherlands and Portugal.

The children, aged between 22 months and 3 years old, are being treated in nearby Grenoble, where French President Emmanuel Macron visited them on Friday.

Suspect remains silent

The unnamed suspect has been in custody since Thursday. He has not yet spoken to investigators about the attack, according to the prosecutor.

Drug and alcohol tests came back negative, while a psychiatrist said he did not appear to be experiencing delusions, Bonnet-Mathis added. 

French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin downplayed speculation that the attack was motivated by Islamist extremism, telling French news channel BFMTV that the suspect was "clearly not someone radicalised". 

The suspect is not known to have had a criminal record or a history of mental illness.