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| Europe |
| Latest French catch are al-Qaeda recruiters |
| 2005-04-28 |
| French police have announced that they have arrested two alleged Islamic activists in a probe led by anti-terrorism judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere into the "Iraq connection". One of them, Said Al Maghrebi, 39, had been wanted by police for several years for alleged involvement in other illegal activities. Five people were detained earlier in the week but three have since been released. Anti terrorism police confirmed that Al Maghrebi was arrested in the Paris region and is suspected of belonging to the French Jihadist structures which encourage and dispatch combatants to Iraq. Al Maghrebi, a Moroccan without a residence permit in France, is believed to have frequented al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan and had reportedly tried unsuccessfully to reach Chechyna in 2002. Since his return to France he is suspected of having encouraged and prepared young Muslims to go to Iraq, via Syria, to join insurgents fighting the US-led coalition forces. The French daily Le Figaro said on Thursday that Al-Maghrebi was preparing to depart for Iraq. He is also reportedly linked to the "Frankfurt cell", now dismantled, which was planning an attack in Strasbourg on New Year's Eve 2000. The identity of the second man, arrested in Marseilles, has not yet been revealed. He is believed not to be directly linked to Al Maghrebi, though involved in similar activities and having links with Islamic cells in Italy. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |