France arrests two terrorist suspects

[News_Editor]

France arrests two terrorist suspects

2010-11-04 20:36:49 GMT+7 (ICT)

PARIS (BNO NEWS) -- French authorities on Thursday arrested two people suspected of plotting a terror attack and are possibly linked with terrorist organizations, the country's Interior Minister said.

"These are serious charges. They are being questioned at the moment," Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux told France 2 television, adding that several indications are "leading us to be vigilant."

Hortefeux added that French anti-terror police this year have arrested 85 people, and twenty-seven of them remain in detention.

On Wednesday, French officials announced that tighter measures will be carried out to ensure airline passenger safety, which resulted in the discovery of several parcel bombs. One of them was addressed to French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

But French authorities have been on high alert for weeks already after intelligence information indicated that a terrorist attack in Europe, and in particular France, was increasingly likely.

And last week, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden released an audio tape in which he blamed French "injustices" for the group's recent kidnappings of French citizens in Niger.

The recording released was the third audio message attributed to Bin Laden in October, an unusual high number of releases. His prior message was released on October 2, issuing a humanitarian appeal for more help for Pakistan's flood victims and expressing worry about climate change.

In last week's audio tape, which appeared to have been recorded recently, Bin Laden justified the kidnapping of five French citizens in Niger in September.

"The subject of my speech is the reason why your security is being threatened and your sons are being taken hostage," Bin Laden said. "The taking of your experts in Niger as hostages, while they were being protected by your proxy [agent] there, is a reaction to the injustice you are practicing against our Muslim nation."

Al-Qaeda's North African wing had earlier claimed responsibility for the September kidnappings of five French nationals in Niger, along with two others from Madagascar and Togo.

The group was kidnapped at a uranium mining area in Arlit, which is located in the Sahara region about 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) northeast of the capital of Niamey. They were employees and subcontractors of French nuclear firm Areva, which is based in Paris.

Al-Qaeda later released photographs that showed the kidnapped individuals sitting on sand as several armed men in Bedouin clothes stand behind them. France said it has not received specific demands from the kidnappers.

Bin Laden, in last week's recording, condemned France for "intervening" in the affairs of Muslims. "How could it be fair that you intervene in the affairs of Muslims, in North and West Africa in particular, support your proxies [agents] against us, and take a lot of our wealth in suspicious deals, while our people there suffer various forms of poverty and despair?" he asked.

But the leader of Al-Qaeda also used the audio recording to criticize France for passing a new law that bans the wearing of full face veils in public. It is set to be implemented next year, resulting in outrage among some Muslims.

"If you unjustly thought that it is your right to prevent free Muslim women from wearing the face veil, is it not our right to expel your invading men and cut their necks?" Bin Laden said.

Finally, Bin Laden urged France to withdraw from the "unjust" war in Afghanistan and warned that more kidnappings would follow if his demands were not met. "The equation is very clear and simple: as you kill, you will be killed; as you take others hostages, you will be taken hostages; as you waste our security we will waste you waste your security," he said.

Bin Laden's whereabouts are unknown, but a NATO official recently told CNN that the suspected mastermind of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States is believed to be hiding in northwestern Pakistan.

The U.S. news channel also reported that al-Qaeda's number 2, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is hiding in houses close to Bin Laden. "Nobody in al Qaeda is living in a cave," a NATO official, who declined to be named, told CNN.

According to the official, Bin Laden and al-Zawahiri are living "in relative comfort, protected by locals and some members of the Pakistani intelligence services."

The official said Bin Laden earlier left Afghanistan's Tora Bora region and has moved around since 2001 from the Afghan far northwest to the Pakistani Kurram Valley.

Pakistani prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani has repeatedly denied that Bin Laden is hiding in the country.

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