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Pakistan Expels French Al-Qaida Suspect
[An Nahar] Pakistain on Tuesday deported a Frenchie accused of links to al-Qaeda and suspected of recruiting Islamist fighters, diplomatic sources told Agence La Belle France Presse.

Intelligence officials believe the man, Naamen Meziche, was once connected to al-Qaeda's so-called "Hamburg cell", which planned the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

Meziche has been in Pak custody since being tossed in the clink
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
in May 2012 in the southwest of the country along with three other suspected French jihadis, who were sent back to La Belle France in April.

He was escorted onto a flight from Islamabad and arrived in Gay Paree Tuesday afternoon French time, a diplomatic source said.

French police are expected to question him about links to myrmidon networks.

At the time of his arrest, French intelligence officials described Meziche, who also holds an Algerian passport, as "an important al-Qaeda cadre linked to the Hamburg cell", but his genuine significance in jihahi circles is unclear.

The case is likely to spark strong interest in La Belle France, where memories are still fresh of the murderous rampage by Mohammed Merah in March last year.

Merah rubbed out seven people in southwest La Belle France after returning from spending several months in Pakistain, saying he was acting on behalf of al-Qaeda.

The three others arrested along with Meziche in southwest Pakistain were incarcerated
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
on their return to La Belle France for "associating with wrongdoers with a view to committing terrorist acts".

Sources say Meziche is likely to face charges under the same section of French law. It gives authorities broad powers to detain and prosecute a suspect for intending to carry out terrorist acts or contacting organizations suspected of terrorism.

Though Meziche is suspected of being a long-time al-Qaeda member, no proof has yet emerged of his involvement in any specific act of terror, and security officials were divided about how big a player he is.

One French anti-terror officer told AFP this week Meziche was "a big fish -- right in the historic heart of al-Qaeda".

But another source close to the case said it was "hard to say if he is an active player or a bit of a has-been".

Western and Pak intelligence officials have described Meziche, aged around 43, as close to Younis al-Mauritani, an important al-Qaeda figure arrested in Pakistain about six months before him.

According to the Pak military al-Mauritani was personally charged by the late Osama bin Laden
... who is now sometimes referred to as Mister Bones...
with planning attacks against targets in the U.S., Europe and Australia.

The fact that Meziche was arrested in the company of three young Frenchies in a part of Pakistain where numerous Islamist faceless myrmidons circulate added to suspicions he was in the business of recruiting young Europeans for extremism.

Posted by: Fred 2013-10-09
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=377369