France bust suspected Islamist militants
2013-02-05 15:04
Paris - French police arrested four suspected Islamist
militants near Paris on Tuesday as part of an investigation into the
recruitment of fighters for al-Qaeda-linked forces in Africa's Sahel, Interior
Minister Manuel Valls said.
The arrests are the first since France intervened in Mali
last month to repel an offensive by Islamist rebels, which has raised concerns
about possible reprisal attacks on French interests at home and abroad.
Three of the four men arrested were Franco-Congolese and
one was Malian, a police source said.
"There is an operation ongoing in the Paris region,
conducted by the DCRI [domestic security service], which comes after the arrest
of an individual a few months ago on the border between Mali and Niger,"
Valls told BFM TV.
That man was a Franco-Congolese social worker named
Cedric Lobo, 27, who was arrested in Niamey, the capital of Niger, while
attempting to purchase a four-wheel drive vehicle with a false driver's
license, the police source said.
Lobo was attempting to reach the historic Malian city of
Timbuktu to join al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) when he was detained by
Niger police.
He was subsequently extradited to France, where he was
charged with planning attacks and remanded in custody.
Valls said the arrests had come after a long investigation
into al-Qaeda recruitment rings led by anti-terrorism judge Marc Trevidic.
French President Francois Hollande last month instructed
his Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault to tighten security in public buildings
and on public transport in, though France kept its security alert level at red,
signifying "probable threats", one down from the scarlet level that means
"definite threats".
"There is no direct threat but there are threats on
the internet, on social networks, calling on people to wage war, to attack
French interests," Valls said.
He added that police had stopped several individuals
trying to travel from France to Africa's Sahel region, known as a base for
traffickers and Islamist militants.
