ianstone
10-05-2010, 02:59 PM
Police Make 12 Terror Arrests In France
Comments (147) (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Terror-Arrests-French-Police-Arrest-12-And-Seize-Guns-And-Ammunition-Sources-Say/Article/201010115752502?lpos=World_News_News_Your_Way_Regi on_7&lid=NewsYourWay_ARTICLE_15752502_Terror_Arrests%3A _French_Police_Arrest_12_And_Seize_Guns_And_Ammuni tion%2C_Sources_Say#comments)
4:48pm UK, Tuesday October 05, 2010
Richard Williams, Sky News Online
Police have arrested 12 people and seized guns and ammunition following two separate anti-terrorism raids in southern France.
Those arrested are suspected of having links with Muslim extremists, it has been reported.
Nine men were detained around the southern cities of Marseille and Avignon on suspicion of trafficking firearms and explosives.
A Kalashnikov rifle and a pump-action shotgun were said to be among the arsenal discovered.
Three others were arrested in a separate operation.
According to reports in France, they were suspected of being members of an extremist group and being part of a cell.
It is understood the cell planned to supply shelter and fake ID papers to jihadists attempting to return to France after undergoing training on the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Two of those suspects were arrested in Marseille and the third in Bordeaux. Officials stressed that the two sets of arrests were not linked.
In the second raid, three of the suspects' phone numbers were found in the phone of Ryad Hannouni.
He had been picked up on Saturday close to the central train station in the Italian city of Naples, allegedly carrying a bomb-making kit.
The 28-year-old Algerian is suspected of being the head of the terror cell and a European arrest warrant has been issued for his extradition to France.
View French Terror Arrests (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&t=h&msid=101065261274254213289.000491de3eaac45adae63&ll=45.859412,3.735352&spn=10.712435,17.578125&z=5&source=embed) in a larger map
There have been widespread terror threats across Europe in recent weeks, which led to the US State Department issuing a travel warning for the continent on Sunday.
It came after intelligence reports sparked fears well-armed teams of jihadists planned to murder Western hostages in raids similar to the attacks two years ago in the Indian city of Mumbai.
Sky News foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall said: "At the moment there's nothing to directly link these arrests to the plot, which was uncovered last week.
"Having said that, you can't rule it out."
In the attack two years ago in Mumbai, which targeted two hotels and the city's main railway station, 10 gunmen killed 166 people and injured more than 300.
Comments (147) (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Terror-Arrests-French-Police-Arrest-12-And-Seize-Guns-And-Ammunition-Sources-Say/Article/201010115752502?lpos=World_News_News_Your_Way_Regi on_7&lid=NewsYourWay_ARTICLE_15752502_Terror_Arrests%3A _French_Police_Arrest_12_And_Seize_Guns_And_Ammuni tion%2C_Sources_Say#comments)
4:48pm UK, Tuesday October 05, 2010
Richard Williams, Sky News Online
Police have arrested 12 people and seized guns and ammunition following two separate anti-terrorism raids in southern France.
Those arrested are suspected of having links with Muslim extremists, it has been reported.
Nine men were detained around the southern cities of Marseille and Avignon on suspicion of trafficking firearms and explosives.
A Kalashnikov rifle and a pump-action shotgun were said to be among the arsenal discovered.
Three others were arrested in a separate operation.
According to reports in France, they were suspected of being members of an extremist group and being part of a cell.
It is understood the cell planned to supply shelter and fake ID papers to jihadists attempting to return to France after undergoing training on the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Two of those suspects were arrested in Marseille and the third in Bordeaux. Officials stressed that the two sets of arrests were not linked.
In the second raid, three of the suspects' phone numbers were found in the phone of Ryad Hannouni.
He had been picked up on Saturday close to the central train station in the Italian city of Naples, allegedly carrying a bomb-making kit.
The 28-year-old Algerian is suspected of being the head of the terror cell and a European arrest warrant has been issued for his extradition to France.
View French Terror Arrests (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&t=h&msid=101065261274254213289.000491de3eaac45adae63&ll=45.859412,3.735352&spn=10.712435,17.578125&z=5&source=embed) in a larger map
There have been widespread terror threats across Europe in recent weeks, which led to the US State Department issuing a travel warning for the continent on Sunday.
It came after intelligence reports sparked fears well-armed teams of jihadists planned to murder Western hostages in raids similar to the attacks two years ago in the Indian city of Mumbai.
Sky News foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall said: "At the moment there's nothing to directly link these arrests to the plot, which was uncovered last week.
"Having said that, you can't rule it out."
In the attack two years ago in Mumbai, which targeted two hotels and the city's main railway station, 10 gunmen killed 166 people and injured more than 300.