France detains Pakistani for links with 'shoe-bomber'
By Paul Michaud
PARIS, June 17: French judicial authorities have decided to place under detention a Pakistani national, Ghulam-Mustafa Rama, 64, who is suspected of having provided logistical support to Richard Reid , the British national who has become known as the "shoe-bomber" for having attempted to set off an explosive charge contained in his shoe during a flight last Dec 22 to Miami.
Mr Rama, who is also the founder of the French branch of Markaz Dawa al-Irshad, had already been arrested by French police last Wednesday (June 12) at his home in the Paris suburb of Evry during an early morning raid which also saw the arrest of another, unidentified, Pakistani national, and three Franco-Algerians.
The other arrested Pakistani has been released, say police, while two of the Franco-Algerians have been detained along with Mr Rama. All three are now being accused by the French magistrate - and the country's principal judicial expert on terrorism - Jean-Louis Bruguiere, of having provided logistical support to Richard Reid, who spent several days in their company prior to his boarding American Airlines flight 063 at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport a few miles north of the Paris neighbourhood where he was housed by Mr Rama and the two Franco-Algerians. [more at link above]