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PARIS, Sept 7, 2006 (AFP) - A controversial imam with a conviction for supporting terrorism was deported by France to Algeria Thursday, the interior ministry said. Chelali Benchellali, 61, a former preacher at a mosque in the suburbs of Lyon, was put on board a flight to Algiers from Orly airport in Paris. Benchellali was given a six-month jail term in June for his role in an underground network that was found guilty of plotting to bomb targets in Paris. He was not imprisoned as he had already served the time in pre-trial detention. Two of Benchellali's sons, Menad and...

Containers packed with the deadly poison ricin may have been brought to Britain, according to a newspaper report. The Observer said French police had told their British counterparts that the chemical had been manufactured by an Islamic militant. French investigators have been trying to track down dozens of containers of ricin suspected to have been made in a makeshift laboratory in Lyon by Menad Benchellali. Benchellali was arrested during police raids 18 months ago. The ricin, which can kill in hours if inhaled, injected or ingested, is believed to have been stored in the form of a white powder in...

police have warned their British counterparts that containers containing the deadly poison ricin may have been brought to Britain after being manufactured by an Islamist militant, the Observer reports. French investigators have been trying to track down dozens of the small containers of ricin, suspected to have been made in a makeshift laboratory in Lyon by Menad Benchellali, who was arrested during police raids 18 months ago. The ricin, which can kill in hours if inhaled, injected or ingested, is believed to have been stored in the form of a white powder in jars of face cream. The paper reported...

Al-Qaida terror plot foiled, say French police Jon Henley in Paris Monday January 12, 2004 The Guardian (UK) The French police are convinced that their country has escaped a planned chemical or biological attack by an Islamist cell linked to al-Qaida. An interior ministry official said evidence from Islamist militants arrested in the Lyon area last week made it "very plain" that an attack with the deadly botulism or ricin toxins was being actively prepared. The eight suspects arrested on Tuesday were mainly relatives of Menad Benchellali, the son of a radical imam in the Lyon suburb of Venisseux, who...

An Islamic terrorist cell was poised to launch biological or chemical attacks in France and possibly Britain last year, say French police. They were ready to use the deadly toxins ricin and botulism. French magistrates were expected last night to launch an official investigation into six suspects, five of whom were arrested last week in the Lyon area. Information from the group confirmed that an attack was "on the verge of being launched" last year. Investigators are examining if there is a link between the findings and a small amount of ricin seized in Britain last January, he said. France's...

Six suspected Islamic extremists including the imam of a Lyon area mosque were due to appear before anti-terrorist judges here amid allegations they knew about plans for a chemical attack in France in 2002. Chellali Benchellali, an imam in the Lyon suburb of Venissieux, his wife Hafsa, his son Hafed and two others were detained last week in a series of raids near the eastern city. The sixth suspect was detained southeast of Paris. They were taken into custody as part of a 2002 probe ordered by Paris anti-terrorist judges into a so-called "Chechen network" of Islamic radicals with links...

Posted on Tue, Jan. 06, 2004 Imam and Father of a Guantanamo Bay Detainee and 7 Others Held French Chechen Terrorist CrackdownFather of Guantanamo Bay Detainee Held JEAN-BAPTISTE LABEUR Associated Press LYON, France - An Islamic cleric whose son is being held at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba was among seven people detained by French security agents Tuesday as part of an investigation into suspected terror networks. The imam, Chellali Benchellali, was arrested at his home in the tough Minguettes high-rise neighborhood of Venissieux, a suburb of the southeastern city of Lyon, said a lawyer for the family....

Father of Guantanamo Bay Detainee Held Tuesday January 6, 2004 11:46 PM By JEAN-BAPTISTE LABEUR Associated Press Writer LYON, France (AP) - An Islamic cleric whose son is being held at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba was among seven people detained by French security agents Tuesday as part of an investigation into suspected terror networks. The imam, Chellali Benchellali, was arrested at his home in the tough Minguettes high-rise neighborhood of Venissieux, a suburb of the southeastern city of Lyon, said a lawyer for the family. Attorney Jacques Debray said the imam's wife and one of his sons,...