French counterterrorism officials detained five suspected Islamic militants thought to be linked to a Moroccan man with alleged ties to al-Qaida, judicial and police officials said. The raids in Selestat and Colmar in the eastern Alsace region near France's border with Germany took place late Tuesday on orders from two anti-terror judges, Jean-Louis Bruguiere and Jean-Francois Ricard, said police officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. The suspects, who were not identified, were taken to counterterrorism headquarters in Paris on Wednesday, judicial officials said.
The five are suspected of having ties to Moroccan Karim Mehdi, who allegedly has links to an al-Qaida cell in Hamburg, Germany - the original base of key Sept. 11 attacker Mohammed Atta. Further details about the five suspects were not immediately available. French authorities placed Mehdi under investigation - a step short of formal charges - in June last year for criminal association with a terrorist enterprise. Mehdi was linked to a thwarted plot to carry out a bombing attack on the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, authorities said. |