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French Judge warns of Iraq 'black hole'
France's top anti-terrorist judge has warned that Iraq is a black hole which has helped to radicalise some young Muslims and drawn them into violence. | The fact that thousands were attending training camps in Afghanistan before 9-11 seems to escape him and a lot of other people |
In an interview with the BBC, Jean-Louis Bruguiere says some Muslims are receiving training in Iraq before returning to Europe to carry out jihad. He also warns that the terror threat facing Europe remains very high. Combating Islamist terrorist cells is becoming harder as they are fragmenting in unpredictable ways, he says. Judge Bruguiere is one of Europe's most experienced anti-terrorism investigators, who has specialised in tracking Islamist groups since the 1980s. | Not that they did much about them |
In his interview with the Today programme, he says he is pessimistic about the immediate future - saying the terror threat in Europe and the rest of the world remains very high. He says Iraq has helped to draw some young Muslims into violence. "It's quite a black hole sucking up all the elements located in Europe, and pushing them to leave Europe and go to Iraq," Mr Bruguiere said. "Some of them come back to Europe with the need and the intention of committing jihad... in their home country in England, France, Spain, other country in Europe. | Yes, and a great many disapear into that "black hole", never to be seen again |
"Some of them have training for non-conventional weapons such as chemical and biological weapons and that were quite new in 2002, 2003."
However, Judge Bruguiere warns that combating the threat is becoming more difficult. He likens terrorist cells to a virus which continually mutates - making co-operation on intelligence-gathering more important than ever. Judge Bruguiere says one of the most worrying developments is evidence that some cells are now acquiring non-conventional weapons, with French intelligence foiling a would-be chemical attack in 2002.
Posted by: Steve 2005-10-20 |
