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Posted on 12/17/2002 1:15:10 PM PST by vannrox
France foils possible terror attack By Elizabeth Bryant International Desk
United Press International
Published 12/17/2002 12:43 PM
PARIS, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Three men arrested in the Paris region may have been plotting a biological or chemical attack, France's Interior Minister said Tuesday.
"This is not a small affair," Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy told the National Assembly. "This is serious. When one finds people who have this material we do well to arrest them."
Police seized empty containers, vials of suspicious-looking fluids and powders and an outfit designed for protection against chemical and biological risks, Sarkozy said, adding that at least $5,000 in cash and false documents were also found during Monday's police raid in the Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis.
If the tests identify chemical or biological elements, the results would confirm European fears that attacks would take more deadly forms seen with biological or chemical weapons.
British officials recently announced foiling such an attack intended to target London's underground.
According to French media reports, all three men arrested Monday are believed to be members of al Qaida, who trained in Afghanistan and spent a stint in the breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya. Tuesday, Sarkozy confirmed the Chechnya connection.
The suspects are men of Algerian or Moroccan origin, Sarkozy said. A woman was arrested Tuesday and was identified as the wife of one of the suspects.
The group has apparently been under police surveillance in recent months, French media reports said. Their leader, Mirouane Ben Ahmed, was believed linked to Frankfurt, Germany-based Islamist radicals charged with plotting a terrorist attack on the French city of Strasbourg two years ago.
The Saint-Denis group allegedly has links as well to Islamist leader Abou Doha, at present jailed in Britain, and suspected of being a key player within a network of radical groups in Europe.
This week's arrests are only the latest in a slew of round-ups that have taken place in Europe, since September 2001.
In France, they include recent linked to Nizar Nawar, an alleged al Qaida member believed to have staged a suicide attack on a historic Tunisian synagogue. At least two of Nawar's relatives in France have been charged with aiding in a terrorist operation.
Copyright © 2002 United Press International
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