More than 70 Muslim workers at France's main airport have been stripped of their security clearance for allegedly posing a risk to passengers.The staff at Charles de Gaulle airport, including baggage handlers, are said to have visited terrorist training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan. One man is thought to have been a friend of Richard Reid, the so-called British shoe bomber.
Earlier this year officials at Charles de Gaulle airport, north of Paris, conducted a security review of staff and questioned dozens of Muslim workers. More than 100 baggage handlers and aircraft cleaners had been under surveillance for months. In all, 72 people were later told their passes allowing access to secure areas were being withdrawn.
Airport officials say some of the workers had frequently visited Pakistan and Afghanistan the previous year. It is also believed another worker had been close to a senior figure in an Algerian terrorist group with links to al-Qaeda.
But some of the men who have lost their security clearance are suing airport authorities. They claim they are being discriminated against because of their religion.
However, about a dozen other workers who have been identified as security risks still have access to sensitive areas of the airport because under French law they must be allowed an opportunity to respond to the charges before they are suspended.