French police arrest 11 Islamic terrorist suspects
French anti-terrorist teams seize arms and ammunition after swooping on suspects in Marseille, Avignon and Bordeaux
French security forces arrested 11 suspected Islamic extremists in raids across southern France today, reinforcing fears of a renewed wave of terror attacks in Europe after warnings at the weekend from the US and British governments.
The anti-terrorist police detained eight people in Marseille and Avignon after an investigation into a Paris-based Muslim organisation. Separately, three people were held near Bordeaux and Marseille, amid growing fears of a strike by al-Qaida-affiliated militants based in north Africa.
France has been on its second highest alert against a possible terrorist attack for the past fortnight. The US government, in a warning repeated by the British, issued a travel alert for Europe at the weekend.
Speculation has centred on Germany as a target, apparently based on information that a captured German militant gave US interrogators in Kabul. Berlin has been dismissive, insisting there is no intelligence to warrant an increased alert level.
French police said they found a Kalashnikov semi-automatic machine gun, a pump-action shotgun and ammunition during the raids. The detainees are suspected of arms trafficking. They are being investigated for alleged links with "criminals linked to a terrorist organisation".
In the second operation, two men were arrested in Marseille and one in Bordeaux. Their details were found on the mobile of a French-Algerian man, Ryad Hannouni, 28, arrested on Saturday in Naples. He is suspected of leading an Islamic extremist group sending youngsters to fight in Afghanistan. Italian police reportedly found a bomb-making kit at his home.
Le Figaro said the three men arrested today were suspected of finding accommodation and producing false papers for militants returning to France from the Afghan-Pakistan border region.
Since militants executed a French hostage in north-west Africa in July, Paris has become more embroiled in conflict with AQIM – al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb – and last month warned of possible attacks in Europe, senior European sources said.
A US drone killed five Germans in the Afghan-Pakistan border area on Monday, Pakistani sources said. German authorities declined to confirm details. Officials in Germany have been scathing about what they see as US alarmism peddled before midterm elections in November.
(guardian.co.uk)
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