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Paris knife attacker wanted to set Charlie Hebdo offices on fire, says prosecutor

Police operation ongoing near the former offices of Charlie Hebdo, in Paris

PARIS (Reuters) - The Pakistani man who wounded two people with a knife in front of the former offices of Charlie Hebdo last week did not know that the satirical magazine had moved and wanted to set its offices on fire, the Paris prosecutor said on Tuesday.

Prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard told a news conference the man carried three bottles of the flammable paint thinner White Spirit. He also said the man had operated under a false identity and that a photo of his passport on his phone showed that he was 25 years old, not 18 as he first said.

(Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Editing by Andrew Heavens)