remembrance ceremony in Nice "This rage, I know, many of you still carry it in the pit of your stomach, ... Everything will be done in order for the republic, the state and public authorities to regain your trust.” French public ministry François Molins, prosecutor of the ministère public (le parquet) in Paris – the authority ('public ministry') responsible for defending French society with regard to terrorism – stated on 15 July that the Nice attack bore the hallmarks of jihadist terrorism. On 18 July, Molins said the attack could be described as "terrorism" as defined by French law. The Republicans On 15 July, Alain Juppé, former prime minister of France and one of the final two candidates to become the Republican candidate for the April–May 2017 presidential election; and Christian Estrosi, former Nice mayor, raised the question of whether more could have been done to prevent the attack. In September 2016, François Fillon, the other Republican candidate in the French presidential election, published a book titled "Defeating Islamic Totalitarianism" (Vaincre le totalitarisme islamique), in which he advocated a stricter state surveillance on the Muslim community and more attention to the French identity. He also wrote that France was "at war" with radical Islam. National Front Marine Le Pen, president of the National Front party and candidate for the April–May 2017 presidential election, said in a Le Figaro interview, "I'm furious, because I hear the same words, notice the same reflexes in the political class, but see no action that contributes one ounce of supplemental security". She judged it "urgent to attack the ideology that is the basis of this terrorism" and regretted that "nothing" was decided for the closing down of the salafist mosques. International Leaderships of 49 countries and five supranational bodies expressed abhorrence of the attack and condolences for families and for France. US President Barack Obama labelled the attack as possible terrorism, as did German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Claim of ISIL responsibility On 16 July, the Amaq News Agency, called Lahouaiej-Bouhlel "a soldier of the Islamic State." It cited an "insider source" which said Lahouaiej-Bouhlel "executed the operation in response to calls to target citizens of coalition nations, which fight the Islamic State". Later that same day, ISIL's official al-Bayan radio station said the attacker executed a "new, special operation using a truck" and "the crusader countries know that no matter how much they enforce their