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| Europe |
| Paris police probe ’chemical plot’ |
| 2002-12-17 |
| French anti-terrorist police have seized chemicals from the home of suspected Islamic militants, amid media reports of a possible chemical attack plot. The liquid and powder substances are being analysed to determine whether they are toxic or could be used in a bomb. One report on the French television news channel LCI, quoting a source close to the case, said the chemicals could have been used to pollute the city's water supplies. Other French media sources also said the men were suspected of planning a chemical attack."When one finds people with this sort of material, one has to arrest them," said French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, describing the affair as "very serious." "This is not a petty affair," he said. "How dare they try that in France! Where do they think they are, America!" Police who searched the apartment in the northern Paris suburb of La Courneuve also seized $5,000 in cash, Islamist propaganda, and a computer. All three men, arrested in a dawn raid on Monday, are reported to be of North African origin - two with Algerian links and one Moroccan. The French news agency AFP quoted a source close to the investigation, who said that the men had all spent time in both Afghanistan and Chechnya. What a suprise! The French Government has ordered an additional 1,000 police and troops on to the streets of the capital to provide extra security over Christmas. There have also been a series of arrests in the last few weeks. Monday's arrests were made as part of an investigation by France's leading anti-terrorist judge, Jean-Louis Bruguiere. He was also behind the arrest last month of a group of people in Paris suburbs accused of having had links to the shoebomber Richard Reid - a British man who attempted to blow up a flight from France to the US with explosives in his shoes. If Jean-Louis doesn't watch out, he'll find himself on someones hitlist. In a separate development on Tuesday, an arms cache - including an M-80 rocket launcher - was discovered in the southern city of Nice. Five people were being held. The haul included assault rifles, pistols, detonators, bullet-proof vests and police jackets, along with a map of Nice's court complex and a plan of the local sewage system. "This arsenal could serve a number of purposes, not necessarily terrorism," prosecutor Eric de Montgolfier told the French news agency AFP. Mr. Montgolfier has a bright future in French politics with that statement. |
| Posted by:Anonymous |
| #2 Bruguiere is one of the few really competent Frenchmen left in the entire nation... |
| Posted by: Ptah 2002-12-17 14:59:30 |
| #1 The reason that the French are suspicious of these chemicals is that they are all cleaning products, items unfamiliar to the average Frenchman. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2002-12-17 10:40:21 |