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France expels Algerian imam
07/09/2006 22:48 - (SA)
Paris - France expelled an Algerian imam
convicted of involvement in a 2002 bomb plot in Paris and of
helping to recruit fighters for Chechnya, the interior ministry
said on Thursday.
Chellali ben Chellali, imam of a mosque in Venissieux, a
suburb in the eastern city of Lyon, was originally detained in
January 2004 in connection with a suspected plot to attack
Russian targets in Paris, possibly using chemical weapons.
He was taken into custody on Tuesday evening and put aboard
a flight to Algeria on Thursday, officials said.
Ben Chellali's wife and two sons were also convicted of
involvement in the plot, while a third son spent two years in
Guantanamo Bay after being captured in Afghanistan in 2001.
The group also planned an attack on the Eiffel Tower,
according to suspects interviewed by police. 'It's a kidnapping'
Ben Chellali, who had spent 14 months in provisional custody
between 2004 and 2005 was given an 18-month prison term,
including six months in custody in June, but had appealed
against the sentence. He had also appealed against the expulsion
order.
"It's a kidnapping. They've stopped the justice system doing
its job," his lawyer Beranger Tourne told Reuters.
Ben Chellali and other defendants in the original case were
found guilty of "criminal association in relation with a
terrorist enterprise", a broad charge which covers numerous
crimes.
The plot came to light in late 2002 when police raided a
flat near Paris and found electronic parts used in detonators
and chemicals that can be used in explosives.
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