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| Europe |
| Father of Guantanamo Bay Suspect Detained in...France |
| 2004-01-06 |
| Oaks and acorns... An Islamic cleric whose son is being held at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay 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, Hafid, also were detained in the sweep by the DST, France’s secretive counterterrorism and counterintelligence agency. Another of his sons, Mourad Benchellali, is among six French detainees suspected of ties to the al-Qaida terrorist network who are being held at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay. I’m sure it was all some dreadful mistake. His daddy’s a preacher man! French agents also arrested a pharmacist from Minguettes who works at a Lyon mosque and another man from the neighborhood, according to an association that supports prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Police confirmed that five people were detained in Venissieux and said another two were arrested elsewhere in the Lyon region. There were no immediate details about the last two. Some of those detained are believed to have provided logistical support, possibly including false papers, to suspected terrorists, police said, without providing further details. I’ll scout around for more of those details. The arrests were ordered by anti-terror magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguiere, who has been using his sweeping powers of detention and investigation to probe suspected links between Islamic militants in France and rebels in Russia’s breakaway, largely Muslim republic of Chechnya. Bruguiere has previously said that the volatile Caucasus region, including Chechnya and Georgia, has become a training ground for Islamic militants who return to Europe to conduct attacks after being taught how to use chemical weapons and other arms. Now why would a good French Muslim need to go to Chechnya? They only have one kind of cheese and the nightlife is terrible. A third son of the imam, Menad Benchellali, was picked up in the Paris region during a sweep a year ago that authorities said thwarted planned bomb or toxic gas attacks in France and Russia by a terror cell with ties to Chechen rebels and al-Qaida. The December 2002 raids in the Paris suburbs of Romainville and La Courneuve turned up diagrams of chemical formulas for explosives and a substance that could make toxic gas, judicial officials said at the time. Counterterrorism agents also found electronic components, a suit against chemical and biological attacks and radiation, two empty gas canisters and false identity papers. French authorities have said that Menad Benchellali trained with Chechen rebels and met high-level al-Qaida operatives in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, which borders Chechnya. Papa Imam must be proud. Mourad, currently in detention on suspicion of terrorism. Menad, currently in detention on suspicion of terrorism. Hafid, currently in detention on suspicion of terrorism. Sounds like a truly pious family, doing G-d’s work. |
| Posted by:seafarious |
| #4 Despite of what I think of the French, from what I've read, the DST is NOT a bunch of folks you'd want on your case. His kid is probably better off at Gitmo. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-1-6 10:58:53 PM |
| #3 seems like Lyon is a hotbed for these a-holes |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-1-6 7:51:26 PM |
| #2 Spot-on gents. Good post, Thx! Can you say "indoctrination"? This should be a major Clue Bat™ - look very very hard at the entire (extended) family when one is snagged, bagged, or tagged. Only stupidity is thicker than blood, it seems, because of the opportunity to churn out jihadi replicants. This family just screams to be removed from the gene pool. Let's oblige them. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-1-6 6:00:07 PM |
| #1 Yet another family affair, it seems ... |
| Posted by: Dan Darling 2004-1-6 4:46:09 PM |