( CNN ) -- French police arrested a man Wednesday in connection with the weekend stabbing of a soldier in a business district of Paris , according to the Ministry of Interior . The suspect , who is being named only as `` Alexandre , '' will turn 22 on Thursday , Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said in a news conference broadcast by CNN affiliate BFMTV . He converted to Islam when was about 18 years old , the prosecutor said . The attack is believed to have been motivated by religious ideology because the suspect prayed less than 10 minutes beforehand , Molins said , and because it came only three days after a soldier was killed in London , by attackers who spoke of Islam . In light of the evidence so far , police will continue to treat it as a terrorism incident , he said . The serviceman , age 23 , suffered wounds to the neck when the assailant attacked him from behind with a knife or box cutter as he patrolled the capital 's La Defense neighborhood . The attacker stabbed the soldier several times , Molins said . The suspect was identified through security camera footage and traces of DNA found on a juice bottle he left along with a sweater in a bag near the scene , the prosecutor said . He had a prior record of petty crimes committed when he was under 18 and is known to have been rebellious in his youth , but was not known to French security services , Molins said . His details were in the national police database because of an identity check made in 2007 when he was praying in the street . At that time , he did not appear to represent any threat , Molins said . Alexandre was arrested outside the home of a friend close to Les Yvelines , near Paris , where he had been staying because he has no permanent address , Molins said . Authorities do not believe the friend is connected to the attack , he added . The suspect can be held in police custody for 96 hours without charges being filed . Molins praised the work of French investigators in identifying him in only four days . The soldier was hospitalized with non-life-threatening wounds , the Ministry of Defense said in a statement . `` The aim was to kill the soldier because he was a soldier , '' Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the CNN affiliate on Saturday . The attacker wanted `` to kill a soldier who is in charge of French security , '' he said . The attacker was wearing a robe at the time of the assault , a police spokesman said . The soldier was on patrol as part of a heightened security plan initiated in certain areas following France 's intervention in Mali this year , French President Francois Hollande said . UK police continue to investigate the attack on a British soldier hit by a car and then hacked to death in southeast London last Wednesday . Moments after that assault , one of his alleged attackers was filmed saying the soldier was killed `` because Muslims are dying daily '' and that `` we must fight them as they fight us , '' an apparent reference to British and coalition forces ' roles in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan . CNN 's Stephanie Halasz and Saskya Vandoorne contributed to this report .
Prosecutor : The prosecutor is the person who decides whether or not to charge a suspect with a crime. He has a record of petty crimes but was not known to security services , Molins says . The stabbed soldier was hospitalized Saturday with wounds to the neck . The soldier was on security patrol in La Defense , a business district of Paris .