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| Europe |
| France Probes Mosque Head in Anti-Terror Drive |
| 2002-11-30 |
| A French anti-terrorist judge placed the head of a Paris mosque under formal investigation on Saturday, the latest step in a major crackdown on Islamic militants, judicial sources said. Police arrested Kamel Lakhram, a Tunisian imam or prayer leader, earlier this week for suspected links to "shoebomber" Richard Reid. France has launched several raids to hunt down Islamic militants amid fears that the al Qaeda network and other groups were planning attacks in the run up to Christmas. Anti-terrorism unit judge Francois Ricard placed Lakhram under official inquiry on suspicion of "links to people involved in terrorist activity." A suspect cannot be kept in custody for more than four days unless he is put under formal investigation. The sources said Ricard did not directly link Lakhram to Reid, the Briton who has pleaded guilty in the United States to trying to blow up a plane bound for Miami from Paris last December with explosives packed inside the soles of his shoes. The sources said that for the moment, Ricard was focusing on whether Lakhram had any links to people suspected of recruiting for Islamic extremist groups, including one based in Kashmir. That's okay. If they can't hold him on one thing, hold him on another, and investigate both. The more bloodthirsty holy men they have behind bars, the better off they'll be. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |