Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes has apologized for suggesting some Bataclan theater security guards may have known in advance about the Paris venue being attacked last November.
The EODM were mid-performance on November 13 when four Islamist militants shot and killed 90 fans.
In a Facebook post, Jesse Hughes apologized for his comments on Fox News last week about six security guards who were not at work on the night of the attack.
The singer said he made “absurd accusations”.
Speaking to Fox News on March 9, Jesse Hughes said he had learned that some guards did not come to work that night and “it seems rather obvious that they had a reason not to show up”.
The Bataclan’s owners were quick to dispute this, saying Jesse Hughes had made “grave and defamatory accusations”.
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Their statement said that a judicial investigation was under way and that “we wish to let justice proceed serenely”.
“All the testimonies gathered to this day demonstrate the professionalism and courage of the security agents who were on the ground on November 13. Hundreds of people were saved thanks to (these agents’) intervention,” they added.
Jesse Hughes responded on March 11, saying: “I humbly beg forgiveness from the people of France, the staff and security of the Bataclan, my fans, my family, friends and anyone else hurt or offended by the absurd accusations I made in my Fox Business Channel interview.”
The singer said his comments were “unfounded and baseless” and that he had been struggling with dealing with the trauma of the massacre. The raid on the concert was one of seven co-ordinated attacks across Paris, killing 130 people.
“I’ve been dealing with non-stop nightmares and struggling through therapy to make sense of this tragedy and insanity,” Jesse Hughes said.
“I haven’t been myself since November 13. I realize there’s no excuse for my words, but for what it’s worth: I am sincerely sorry for having hurt, disrespected or accused anyone.”
The members of the Californian rock band escaped the carnage by hiding in a dressing room backstage and later told how they wanted to return to Paris to finish their performance.
Eagles of Death Metal returned to Paris three months later to finish the gig at another venue, the Olympia, after receiving “overwhelming” support.
The Bataclan survivors were all invited and many attended amid tight security. The show included a silence in memory of the victims.
According to German media reports, the names of three of the Paris attackers appear in files leaked from the ISIS.
The three are believed to have carried out the worst attack, at the Bataclan concert hall, where 90 people died in November 2015.
The ISIS files, obtained by German, UK and Syrian opposition media, are said to identify thousands of jihadist recruits from at least 40 countries.
German officials said the files could be assumed to be genuine.
Roughly 22,000 fighters are reportedly identified by the documents, with one file for each recruit listing a name, address and other information. However, many of the names given may be duplicates.
Among them are Samy Amimour, Foued Mohamed-Aggad and Omar Ismail Mostefai, the three men who attacked the Bataclan during Eagles of Death Metal’s concert, killing 90 people.
The documents have been obtained by German public broadcasters WDR and NDR, and the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
WDR said the files indicate that the three men entered ISIS territory in 2013 and 2014.
Germany’s Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere earlier said the information contained in the files could help to prosecute ISIS fighters, and help prevent future recruitment.
Files were first published online (in Arabic) by Zaman Al-Wasl, a Qatari-based Syrian news website.
Dutch media identified Abu Jihad al-Hollandi from the documents as Amsterdam teenager Achraf Bouamran, who was killed in a US air strike on the Syrian ISIS stronghold of Raqqa in January 2015. His file reads: “Born 1997. Moroccan origin. Wants to be a fighter.”
Counter-terrorism police in Germany are studying the documents.
“The German Federal Bureau of Investigation acts on the assumption that the documents are authentic,” Thomas de Maiziere said.
Sky News said the documents came from a man called Abu Hamed, an ISIS fighter who said he had become disillusioned with the group’s leadership and stolen a memory stick from the head of the ISIS internal security force before handing it over in Turkey.
The members of American rock band Eagles of Death Metal, whose concert at the Bataclan concert hall was stormed during last week’s Paris attacks, have made their first statement since returning to the US.
The rockers said: “While the band is now home safe, we are horrified and still trying to come to terms with what happened in France.”
Eagles of Death Metal (EODM) members said they were “bonded in grief with the victims, the fans… and all those affected by terrorism”.
Gunmen killed 89 people at the band’s gig at the Bataclan concert hall.
Among those who died were Nick Alexander, a man selling merchandise at the venue, and three employees of the band’s record company.
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“Our thoughts and hearts are first and foremost with our brother Nick Alexander, our record company comrades Thomas Ayad, Marie Mosser, and Manu Perez, and all the friends and fans whose lives were taken in Paris, as well as their friends, families, and loved ones,” Eagles of Death Metal’s statement reads.
“Although bonded in grief with the victims, the fans, the families, the citizens of Paris, and all those affected by terrorism, we are proud to stand together, with our new family, now united by a common goal of love and compassion.
“We would like to thank the French police, the FBI, the US and French State Departments, and especially all those at ground zero with us who helped each other as best they could during this unimaginable ordeal, proving once again that love overshadows evil.
“All EODM shows are on hold until further notice.”
Eagles of Death Metal members escaped uninjured in the attack on the Bataclan, part of an orchestrated series of gun and bomb attacks that left 129 dead.
French President Francois Hollande has declared a national state of emergency and announced the country’s borders have been tightened after more than 120 people were killed in a night of gun and bomb attacks in Paris.
At least 80 people were reported killed after gunmen burst into the Bataclan concert hall and took dozens hostage.
The siege ended when security forces stormed the building.
People were shot dead at bars and restaurants at five other sites in Paris. Eight attackers are reported to have been killed.
French police believed all of the gunmen were dead but it was unclear if any accomplices were still on the run after the string of near-simultaneous attacks.
Paris residents have been asked to stay indoors and about 1,500 military personnel are being deployed across the city.
The gunmen’s motives were not immediately confirmed, but one witness at the Bataclan heard one of the attackers appear to express support for ISIS.
“It’s Hollande’s fault, he shouldn’t have intervened in Syria!” the man shouted, according to French news agency AFP, citing the French president’s decision to take part in Western air strikes on ISIS.
Paris saw three days of attacks in early January, when Islamist gunmen murdered 18 people after attacking satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, a Jewish supermarket and a policewoman on patrol.
The attack on the 1,500-seat Bataclan hall was by far the deadliest of last night’s attacks. Gunmen opened fire on concert-goers watching American rock group Eagles of Death Metal. The event had been sold out.
The series of attacks not far from the Place de la Republique and the Place de la Bastille struck at the heart of the capital when cafes, bars and restaurants were at their busiest.
Customers were singled out at venues including a pizza restaurant and a Cambodian restaurant.
The other target was the Stade de France, on the northern fringe of Paris, where President Hollande and 80,000 other spectators were watching a friendly international between France and Germany, with a TV audience of millions more.
President Francois Hollande was whisked to safety after the first of at least two explosions just outside the venue to convene an emergency cabinet meeting. Three attackers were reportedly killed there.
As the extent of the bloodshed became clear, Francois Hollande went on national TV to announce a state of emergency for the first time in France since 2005. The decree enables the authorities to close public places and impose curfews and restrictions on the movement of traffic and people.
Within an hour, security forces had stormed the concert hall and all four attackers there were dead. Three had blown themselves up and a fourth was shot dead by police.
Another attacker was killed in a street in eastern Paris, reports said.
Speaking after arriving at the concert hall, Francois Hollande said the attackers would be fought “without mercy”.
President Barack Obama spoke of “an outrageous attempt to terrorize innocent civilians”.
Paris Mayor Ann Hidalgo announced that all schools, museums, libraries, gyms, swimming pools and markets would be shut on November 14.
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