Moroccan who admitted killing two in Finland knife attack was refused asylum

The 18-year-old Moroccan Mohamed Bakier, covers his face during the initial remand hearing of suspects of killing two people and attempting to kill eight others with terrorist intent in Turku last week, at the Southwest Finland District Court in Turku, Finland, August 22, 2017. LEHTIKUVA / Martti Kainulainen via REUTERS

HELSINKI (Reuters) - A teenage Moroccan asylum seeker who admitted on Tuesday that he had killed two women and injured eight other people in a knife attack in the Finnish town of Turku had had his application for asylum rejected before the attack, authorities said.

But though he confessed to the killings in a closed-door court hearing, 18-year-old Abderrahman Mechkah did not admit any terrorist motive, lawyer Kaarle Gummerus said.