Franchise registrations in Saudi Arabia surge 866% over 3 years    Lulu Saudi Arabia celebrates its 15th anniversary with the grand launch of 'Super Fest 2024'    Cristiano Ronaldo's double powers Al Nassr to 3-1 win over Al Gharafa in AFC Champions League    Culture minister tours Saudi pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka    Al Ahli edges Al Ain 2-1, bolsters perfect start in AFC Champions League Elite    Saud Abdulhamid makes history as first Saudi player in Serie A    Saudi Cabinet to hold special budget session on Tuesday    King Salman orders extension of Citizen's Account Program and additional support for a full year    Al-Falih: 1,238 foreign investors obtain premium residency in Saudi Arabia    Several dead as Storm Bert wreaks havoc across Britain    Irish PM apologizes for walking away from care worker    Most decorated Australian Olympian McKeon retires    Adele doesn't know when she'll perform again after tearful Vegas goodbye    'Pregnant' for 15 months: Inside the 'miracle' pregnancy scam    Hezbollah fires rocket barrages into Israel after deadly Beirut strikes    Ukraine losing ground in Russia's Kursk region, says military source    Do cigarettes belong in a museum?    Saudi Arabia to host 28th Annual World Investment Conference in Riyadh    Riyadh Emir inaugurates International Conference on Conjoined Twins in Riyadh    Katy Perry v Katie Perry: Singer wins right to use name in Australia    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



France detained 4 suspected of extremist links
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 06 - 02 - 2013

PARIS/TIMBUKTU — French authorities detained four people Tuesday in a counter-terrorism operation targeting those suspected of trying to join Islamist extremists abroad.
Meanwhile, Tuareg rebels in Mali say they are working with France against 'terrorists.' The raid in the Paris region comes amid fears that European extremists who once joined jihadi groups in Afghanistan or Iraq are now joining radical fighters in the civil war in Syria and the conflict in Mali.
The Paris prosecutor's office said the four people were detained in Tuesday's operation as part of an investigation into a French-Malian man arrested around the Mali-Niger border last year.
Interior Minister Manuel Valls said the operation targeted those seeking to join foreign fighters in the Mali region, and that French authorities are monitoring several cells or networks suspected of sending fighters abroad.
He said a "handful" of French extremists are in the region around Mali, which France fears could become a haven for international terrorists.
The French military launched a military intervention in Mali last month targeting Al-Qaeda-linked extremists. The extremists had seized power in the north last year and imposed harsh Islamic rule on residents, and then started advancing toward the capital. Other African countries are also taking part in the military intervention.
French authorities fear retaliatory attacks by those linked to the extremists targeted in the Mali operation.
French authorities say French extremists are also trying to join radical fighters in Syria, where a melange of anti-government forces is resisting a nearly 2-year-old crackdown by President Bashar Assad's military. France has sided with the Syrian political opposition, saying Assad has lost his legitimacy, but is trying to crack down on any French people who seek to use the war in Syria to push extremist goals.
"Several dozen French people or French residents have already gone to Syria, often in groups controlled by Al-Qaeda, and there are also some individuals who want to go to the Sahel (around Mali), so we have to prevent them, arrest them and neutralize them," Valls said.
Tuesday's arrests were part of the investigation into Ibrahim Ouattara, a 24-year-old native of the northern Paris suburb of Aubervilliers, the Paris prosecutor's office said. Outtara, a dual French-Malian national, was arrested in November. He has a history of trips to regions where radicals are active, including countries like Yemen and Somalia.
Separately, a 27-year-old Frenchman was arrested in August in Niger and has since been handed over to authorities in France. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, is one of three extremist groups that have taken control of the northern half of Mali. The group is made up mainly of foreign fighters.
Meanwhile, Secular rebels from Mali's Tuareg people say they have arrested two extremists, including the man blamed for enforcing stoning deaths and amputations in Timbuktu. A statement from the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad says Mohamed Moussa Ag Mohamed of Ansar Dine and Oumeini Ould Baba Akhmed of the Movement for Unity and Oneness of the Jihad, or MUJAO, were arrested Saturday near Mali's border with Algeria.
The NMLA launched a rebellion last year and seized most of northern Mali. They initially fought alongside Ansar Dine and MUJAO but they soon hijacked the Tuareg nationalist uprising.
The NMLA said the two men have been interrogated and information shared with French troops who are leading a military intervention in Mali. It said the men are in Kidal, Mali. — Agencies


Clic here to read the story from its source.