http://news.yahoo.com/2-arrested-french-anti-terrorism-probe-175231258.html
2 arrested in French anti-terrorism probe
By ANGELA CHARLTON | Associated Press Thu, Mar 7, 2013
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PARIS (AP) Two Frenchmen suspected of plotting terrorist attacks, making
explosives and extremist activity online were detained Thursday, amid
heightened concern about threats to France over its military campaign against
al-Qaida-linked fighters in Mali.
Officials at the Interior Ministry and the Paris prosecutor's office say
intelligence and police officers detained the young men Thursday in a house in
Marignane near the Mediterranean port city of Marseille. Authorities were
scouring the house for explosives or other evidence of terrorist connections.
The suspects are French citizens, aged 18 and 20, the officials said.
The young men were suspected of preparing explosives, and had been under
surveillance since November, the Interior Ministry official said. They had been
identified as a threat based on "jihadist messages and consultations" online,
and authorities moved in because they believed the two were ready to carry out
"terrorist acts," he said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized
to publicly discuss terrorism investigations.
It wasn't immediately clear what the target or location of their potential
attacks might have been, or whether the men were involved in any international
terrorist network.
French authorities have been on high alert for terrorist activity for years,
and especially heightened alert since the French military launched an operation
in January against extremists who imposed severe Islamic rule in the West
African country of Mali.
There was no immediate link between the men detained Thursday and the campaign
in Mali.
But French authorities have warned that the operation increases the risk of
attacks by homegrown militants in France. Small groups of France-based
militants have already headed to Mali.
One French-Malian citizen detained in Mali in November was sent to France this
week and is in custody, the Paris prosecutor's office said Thursday. Ibrahim
Ouattara, a 24-year-old from of the working class Paris suburb of
Aubervilliers, had a history of trips to places like Yemen and Somalia, and is
suspected of being a scout to set up a recruiting network to Mali.
"We can't rule out that youth may want to punish France for what they consider
to be an attack against Islam," anti-terrorist judge Marc Trevidic told The
Associated Press last week. He particularly noted the threat of a "low
intensity" attack by isolated extremists in France, as opposed to big organized
networks.
Authorities in France for years have monitored radical Muslims many with
family ties in former French colonies in Africa who travel abroad to wage
jihad, or holy war, and could return home with battle skills and know-how to
carry out terrorist attacks.
French authorities have been concerned about radicalization among Muslims in
poor, isolated housing projects, and have rounded up several youths in recent
weeks suspected of trying to join the fight in West Africa. Moderate Muslims
express concern that such sweeps against a radical fringe risk stigmatizing
France's 5-million-strong Muslim community.
_____
AP writer Jamey Keaten contributed to this report.
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