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| Europe |
| Man arrested at Paris Airport |
| 2002-12-29 |
| Police have arrested a baggage handler at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport, after two automatic weapons, plastic explosives and a detonator were found in his car. The man, who is reportedly of Algerian origin, was arrested late on Saturday after a tip-off from a member of the public who saw a weapon in a car boot at the airport. Other members of the man's family have been taken in for questioning, and the man himself can be held for up to four days without charge. Paris police have made several arrests in the past two weeks of suspected Islamic militants who, the authorities says, were planning an attack on the Russian embassy in the city. The man is reportedly a 27-year-old of Algerian origin, who lives in the northern Parisian suburb of Bondy. He has no criminal record, say police. As a baggage handler, he has security clearance for several areas of Charles de Gaulle airport, one of Europe's busiest. The man's father, two brothers and a family friend were also arrested, after the man's flat was searched. An automatic pistol, a machine gun, five pieces of plastic explosive and two detonators were found in his car, according to police. Police said before Christmas that they found bomb-making equipment at least one of the addresses raided in the Paris suburbs. In total, nine arrests have been made since 16 December, when four people were arrested in the Paris suburb of La Courneuve. All those arrested are said to be of Algerian or Moroccan origin. The arrests stem from an investigation into possible connections between Islamic militants in Europe and Chechnya. |
| Posted by:Paul |
| #1 Either the 1) Frogs are really lucky, 2) this guy is just the tip of the iceberg or 3) the story about him getting busted because somebody caught a random glance into his trunk has been made up to protect a source. I'll bet its #3. |
| Posted by: JAB 2002-12-29 21:44:07 |