Militant suspects tied to al-Qaida caught in France
Source: Agencies |
February 6, 2013, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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FRENCH police arrested four suspected Islamist militants near Paris yesterday as part of an investigation into the recruitment of volunteers by al-Qaida insurgents in Mali, Interior Minister Manuel Valls said.
The arrests came as France's intervention in Mali to rid its former colony of Islamist fighters has prompted the authorities to increase security measures against possible reprisal attacks on its interests in mainland France and abroad.
Anti-terrorism judge Marc Trevidic has said the insurgency that seized the north of Mali was paving the way for attacks on France as more French Muslims of African origin were finding a cause in the conflict.
Three of the four militants arrested were Franco-Congolese and one was Malian, a police source said.
"There is an operation ongoing in the Paris region, conducted by the DCRI (domestic security service), which comes after the arrest of an individual a few months ago on the border between Mali and Niger," Valls told BFM TV.
That man was a Franco-Congolese social worker named Cedric Lobo, 27, who was arrested in Niamey, the capital of Niger, while attempting to purchase a four-wheel drive vehicle with a false driver's license, the police source said. Lobo was attempting to reach the historic Malian city of Timbuktu to join al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb when he was detained by Niger police, the source said.
He was subsequently extradited to France, where he was charged with planning attacks and remanded in custody.
The arrests came as France's intervention in Mali to rid its former colony of Islamist fighters has prompted the authorities to increase security measures against possible reprisal attacks on its interests in mainland France and abroad.
Anti-terrorism judge Marc Trevidic has said the insurgency that seized the north of Mali was paving the way for attacks on France as more French Muslims of African origin were finding a cause in the conflict.
Three of the four militants arrested were Franco-Congolese and one was Malian, a police source said.
"There is an operation ongoing in the Paris region, conducted by the DCRI (domestic security service), which comes after the arrest of an individual a few months ago on the border between Mali and Niger," Valls told BFM TV.
That man was a Franco-Congolese social worker named Cedric Lobo, 27, who was arrested in Niamey, the capital of Niger, while attempting to purchase a four-wheel drive vehicle with a false driver's license, the police source said. Lobo was attempting to reach the historic Malian city of Timbuktu to join al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb when he was detained by Niger police, the source said.
He was subsequently extradited to France, where he was charged with planning attacks and remanded in custody.
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