French police have arrested eight Muslims as part of an investigation into "planned" anti-Russian attacks in France
Published:
12 January 2004 y., Monday
Anti-terrorist officers from the DST domestic security service swooped on the suspects in dawn raids in the Venissieux suburb of Lyon on Tuesday.
Chellali Benchellali, the imam of Venissieux mosque, was detained along with his wife Hafsa and one of their sons, Hafed, as well as up to five others.
"(The arrests) will act as a brake on all these networks and this radical and political Islam which is doing so much harm in our suburbs," Venissieux mayor Andre Gerin, a communist, said. Another of the imam's sons, Mourad Benchellali, was previously arrested by US forces in Afghanistan and is being held at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Around 10 people, mostly of Algerian origin, are already in detention as part of the Chechnya-related investigation launched by French magistrates in December 2002. Among the 10 is another of Chellali Benchellali's sons, Menad.
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