Portugal: Refugee held as suspect in Muslim center stabbings

By BARRY HATTON and JOSEPH WILSON
Associated Press

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Authorities in Portugal say a man wielding a large knife killed two women and wounded several other people at an Ismaili Muslim center in Lisbon. Portuguese authorities described the man as a refugee from Afghanistan who was receiving help from the Ismaili Community. A community leader says the women killed in the stabbings were Portuguese staff members at the center. Local Afghan community representatives said the suspect was known to have psychological problems after his wife died at a refugee camp in Greece. Police said they were investigating Tuesday’s violence as a possible extremist act. Portugal’s interior minister says any “hasty analysis” should be avoided. Officers shot the suspect but he survived.