French charity worker to stand trial on charges of making up Islamist attack

PARIS (Reuters) - A charity worker will stand trial in France in November on charges of falsely reporting being attacked by a couple shouting "Allahu Akbar", the public prosecutor's office said on Wednesday. The director of the Restos du Coeur soup kitchen in Montreuil, east of Paris, had told police on Friday that a man who appeared to be of African origin had swung an ax at him and missed, before a female accomplice stabbed him several times in the stomach. In a similar case, in February, prosecutors decided a teacher at a Jewish school in Marseille would stand trial after investigators concluded that he falsely reported being stabbed by Islamic State supporters. France has suffered several high-profile attacks claimed by Islamist militants over the past 18 months. In June, a Frenchman who pledged allegiance to Islamic State stabbed a police commander to death outside his home and also killed his partner. The country has been under a state of emergency since Islamic State gunmen and bombers killed 130 people in Paris last November. (Reporting by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Louise Ireland)