French authorities reportedly arrested several suspected Islamists Monday, a week after a similar sweep. Police made arrests in two regions of Montargis in north-central France, according to Le NouvelObs.com and other news media. Police said two converted Muslims, aged 25 and 30 years, were "the two principal targets." The suspects apparently had links with another Islamist radical, Safe Bourrada who was among nine people arrested in a separate sweep last week. According to news reports, at least one of the suspects arrested confessed to a plot by the group to target a Paris-area airport and other sensitive targets in a terrorist attack. | "Ma matraque du numéro sept svp" |
French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy told RTL radio Monday the latest arrests were part of "pursuing the same inquiry," into the Bourrada group. "It's part of the same cell," he added. |