<p>President Francois Hollande today bestowed France's highest honour on a group of Americans and a Briton who overpowered a Moroccan gunman on a crowded train, saying the whole world "admires their courage and cool composure".<br /><br /></p>.<p>Anti-terror investigators were questioning the alleged attacker, 25-year-old Ayoub El Khazzani, who boarded the high-speed train in Brussels bound for Paris on Friday armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, a Luger automatic pistol, ammunition and a box-cutter.<br /><br />Witnesses said he opened fire, injuring a man before being wrestled to the floor and subdued by three young Americans -- off-duty servicemen Alek Skarlatos and Spencer Stone and their student friend Anthony Sadler -- and a Briton, 62-year-old business consultant Chris Norman.<br /><br />Presenting them with the Legion d'Honneur at the Elysee presidential palace, Hollande said: "A terrorist decided to commit an attack. He had enough weapons and ammunition to carry out a real carnage, and that's what he would have done if you hadn't tackled him at a risk to your own lives.<br /><br />"You have shown us that, faced with terror, we have the power to resist. You have given a message of courage, solidarity and hope."<br /><br />A French passenger who also tackled the gunman but chose to remain anonymous, and Eric Tanty, an off-duty train driver who happened to be on board and helped restrain Khazzani, were to be honoured too.<br /><br />Mark Moogalian, a 51-year-old Franco-American professor who was shot and is now recovering in hospital, and Michel Bruet, a train conductor who warned authorities, were also to be awarded medals.<br /><br />Speaking as he left the Elysee, his medal pinned to his suit, Norman said it was "a little bit difficult to believe that it's actually happened".<br /><br />"I think that one way or another, we are going to be facing this kind of problem quite a few times in the future, and I would invite you all to think about 'what would I do in that situation'.<br /><br />"Act if the opportunity presents itself. Obviously you don't want to throw yourself in a situation that is completely hopeless, but act if you can." France has been on high alert since extremist attacks in Paris in January left 17 people dead.<br /><br />Intelligence services in Belgium, France, Germany and Spain had previously flagged Khazzani as an Islamic extremist.</p>
<p>President Francois Hollande today bestowed France's highest honour on a group of Americans and a Briton who overpowered a Moroccan gunman on a crowded train, saying the whole world "admires their courage and cool composure".<br /><br /></p>.<p>Anti-terror investigators were questioning the alleged attacker, 25-year-old Ayoub El Khazzani, who boarded the high-speed train in Brussels bound for Paris on Friday armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, a Luger automatic pistol, ammunition and a box-cutter.<br /><br />Witnesses said he opened fire, injuring a man before being wrestled to the floor and subdued by three young Americans -- off-duty servicemen Alek Skarlatos and Spencer Stone and their student friend Anthony Sadler -- and a Briton, 62-year-old business consultant Chris Norman.<br /><br />Presenting them with the Legion d'Honneur at the Elysee presidential palace, Hollande said: "A terrorist decided to commit an attack. He had enough weapons and ammunition to carry out a real carnage, and that's what he would have done if you hadn't tackled him at a risk to your own lives.<br /><br />"You have shown us that, faced with terror, we have the power to resist. You have given a message of courage, solidarity and hope."<br /><br />A French passenger who also tackled the gunman but chose to remain anonymous, and Eric Tanty, an off-duty train driver who happened to be on board and helped restrain Khazzani, were to be honoured too.<br /><br />Mark Moogalian, a 51-year-old Franco-American professor who was shot and is now recovering in hospital, and Michel Bruet, a train conductor who warned authorities, were also to be awarded medals.<br /><br />Speaking as he left the Elysee, his medal pinned to his suit, Norman said it was "a little bit difficult to believe that it's actually happened".<br /><br />"I think that one way or another, we are going to be facing this kind of problem quite a few times in the future, and I would invite you all to think about 'what would I do in that situation'.<br /><br />"Act if the opportunity presents itself. Obviously you don't want to throw yourself in a situation that is completely hopeless, but act if you can." France has been on high alert since extremist attacks in Paris in January left 17 people dead.<br /><br />Intelligence services in Belgium, France, Germany and Spain had previously flagged Khazzani as an Islamic extremist.</p>