France/Terrorism: suspension of Djamel Beghal’s deportation process

(Gamma/Photo News)

The French State Council has suspended on Tuesday evening the deportation process to Algeria of Djamel Beghal, an Islamist currently under house arrest in the Cantal (centre of the country), said the lawyer of the defendant, Patrice Spinosi. The man who was arrested in July 2001 had been condemned in 2005 to ten year in jail for having prepared terrorist attacks against the United States embassy in Paris.

The French Interior Ministry had introduced last May 30, an appeal process against a decision which had blocked the deportation process because Djamel Beghal had introduced an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

Djamel Beghal was arrested in July 2001 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) before coming back to France. He had made a long trip in Pakistan and Afghanistan, probably in the military training camp of Al-Qaeda. He has been submitted to a deportation process to Algeria since September 19, 2007.

France/Spain/Terrorism: EU court backs ban on Batasuna

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, confirmed on Tuesday that they have disband the Basque separatist party Batasuna. In three rulings, the tribunal rejected all the petitions of the Herri Batasuna and Batasuna organisations – which Spain had outlawed in 2003 for financing the ETA terror group. "Given the situation in Spain for several years regarding terrorist attacks, these ties can be considered objectively as a threat to democracy," declared the court.

The ECHR judges said Batasuna, the former Basque nationalist political party, "contradicted the concept of a 'democratic society' and presented a major danger to Spain's democracy." Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said he was satisfied at the court's decision. Spain's Constitutional Court has also confirmed the ruling. Batasuna has been denying claims that it is an ETA political wing. The Basque regional parliament has no radical separatist representatives as several parties that followed as successors to Batasuna have also been banned.

France/Spain/Terrorism: arms cache linked to ETA found

A cache of explosives and detonators suspected of belonging to Basque separatist group ETA has been seized by police in southwestern France, a source said on Monday. “Police found a bag with several kilograms of a powder that could be pentrite, a powerful explosive, as well as detonators and timers in a camp site in the town of Castelnau de Montmiral Saturday,” the source said on condition of anonymity.

Another ETA arms cache containing guns and ammunition was found in the southwestern town of Pinderes three weks ago. In the past months French police have arrested several suspected ETA members and in May banned a suspected chief of the group in the eastern Pyrenees region near Spain.

ETA, considered a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the United States, is blamed for the deaths of more than 800 people in its 40-year campaign to form a Basque homeland out of northern Spain and southwestern France.

AQIM threatens France over Sarkozy's Burqa remarks

In a statement released on Tuesday through several jihadist websites and entitled “France, the mother of all evils,” Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) threatened France over President Sarkozy’s remarks last week that the “burqa is not welcome in France.” In the statement, Abou Mouss’ab Abd Al Wadoud vowed on the part of all the “mujahedeen in the Islamic Maghreb,” to “take revenge on France” and to target its “interests wherever they are.”

He also pointed out that the French President’s remarks, which he said were fuelled by hatred, signalled a “new war against our sisters who wear the Niqab.” He urged all Muslim to fight “this hatred with another one, more devastating.”

France/Terrorism: threat remains severe in Paris after the Nicolas Sarkozy’s speech about burqa

The Ayatollah Fadlallah, the Shia religious leader in Lebanon has reacted to the speech of the president Nicolas Sarkozy saying the burqa would not be welcome in France. He asked Paris to reconsider its position about the issue accusing her “to oppress women and to strike a blow at her will and her freedom of choice when she can’t choose her clothes.” “This is a form of abuse of civil liberties,” he also added.

The Saudi press also criticized the French position. The daily newspaper Al-Hayat calls to “respect the traditions of the people and the privacy.” “What would be the reaction of European and French if they should cover their faces and hair in the Islamic countries?” Asked one of its columnists. However, a high French official who come back from Tehran has replied that “the veil is imposed on female members of French official delegations when they visit, for example, Iran!”

On the Internet, the reactions are also violent between people who are in favour of the burqa and those who are opposed to it. Ironically, the French speech brings as much reactions as the caricatures of the prophet did in the Danish press. On several Islamist websites, the reactions against the French position are real and could bring to severe threat in the coming days. The French Central Directorate of the Interior Intelligence (Direction Centrale du Renseignement Intérieur – DCRI), has warned for his part that several terrorist attack could be prepared soon against Paris and French interests abroad.

France/Spain/Terrorism: police detain 2 ETA suspects

French police on Thursday detained 2 suspected members of the Basque separatist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) from Charenton-le-Pont, near Paris, said officials. According to Spanish sources, the suspects have been identified as Javier Arruabarrena and Oihana Garmendia. The Efe news agency reported them as the leader of ETA's intelligence operations. A French official said the arrest according to a Europe-wide arrest warrant.

Since 1968, the Basque separatist militant group has been continuing its arms struggle for a separate Basque state in northern Spain and south-western France. The violence that followed has killed more than 800 people. Authorities believe the group carried out the car bombing attack in the city of Bilbao in northern Spain last week. A senior police officer was killed in the attack.

France/Islamism: burqa should be considered as an offence against the freedom of the women

Fifty-eight French lawmakers have signed a proposition to organise a parliamentary commission of inquiry which will look into the case of the “burqa” also known as “niqab”, worn by Muslim women in public area. “Today, we are confronted in the neighbourhoods of our cities, with some Muslim women wearing the burqa, veiling and enclosing the entire body, including the head,” said André Gerin on Wednesday during an interview to the French daily newspaper Libération.  “It is not only a religious sign but also an offence against dignity of women,” added the MP who had made the proposition..

André Gerin is a lawmaker from a district where the wearing of the burqa is increasingly widespread. According to him, a parliamentary commission would aim to “study about the current situation, to understand why the phenomenon is progressing.” He also added it would “develop proposals to fight against the expansion of the phenomenon, without stigmatizing those trapped in this itinerant prison.” He concluded that “if wearing a burqa is considered as an offence against the freedoms of women, then it would be possible to legislate to ban it in public spaces on the national territory".

During a speech in Cairo (Egypt) on June 4, President Barack Obama said “I reject the view of some in the West that a woman who chooses to cover her hair is somehow less equal, but I do believe that a woman who is denied an education is denied equality. And it is no coincidence that countries where women are well-educated are far more likely to be prosperous.” After this speech, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president said “in France, every youg women who want to wear a Islamic veil cand do it. It is her freedom”; reopening the discussion about that question, five years after the publication of the Stasi report.

Iran/France/Civil unrest: Tehran impose strict regulations on international media

French Secretary of State for Human Rights Rama Yade said on Wednesday morning that the French embassy in Tehran had been attacked by demonstrators on Tuesday. After she talked with Seyed Mehdi Miraboutalebi, the Iranian ambassador in Paris, she also undernlined “Iran is in a total confusing situation”.

In Iran, Defeated presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi has posted on Wednesday a statement on his website which said that "a number of our countrymen were wounded or martyred." He urged his supporters to protest and to gather in Mosques to mourn the seven people who were killed on Monday during the bloody demonstrations in the capital. "I ask the people to express their solidarity with the families ... by coming together in mosques or taking part in peaceful demonstrations," said Mousavi's statement. He also added he would take part to the mourning day planned for Thursday.

The protest that are planned for the next day are directly challenging the Iranian authorities and denounce the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranian president is indeed well decided to silence the opposition. Fars News Agency quoted on Tuesday Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli as saying "no permission has been issued for a gathering or rally in Haft-e Tir Square" on Wednesday. Authority said also it is mandatory for journalists to have official permission before covering any story.

Meanwhile Saeed Laylaz, editor of the business daily Sarmayeh, and the activist Mohammadreza Jalaiepour have also been arrested this Wednesday morning. They faced death penalty if a court will find them guilty of causing civil unrest. "We warn the few ... controlled by foreigners who try to disrupt domestic security by inciting individuals to destroy and to commit arson that the Islamic penal code for such individuals waging war against God is execution," said Mohammadreza Habibi, the general prosecutor in the province of Isfahan.

France/Terrorism: 2 AF 447 passengers could be linked to terrorism

(Joel Silva/Folhapress/Polaris/Photo News)

According to press reports, the French intelligence services have established that two passengers who were on the Air France Flight 447 that crashed on May 31 had classified names linked to Islamist terrorism. The intelligence services are now trying to confirm the family connections of the alleged terrorist and their date of birth. However, this week, French and American authorities have denied that the crash could have been caused by a terrorist operation.  “No names on the manifest triggered any U.S. intelligence persons of interest,” a former senior White House official said.

Posthumous security checks into the backgrounds of the men found that they solely “shared the same name” as known Islamic radicals, even though their bodies have not yet been found.  Confusion is maybe possible because the terrorism watch-lists, which are translated by Western countries, usually list only two names while in reality many in the Arab world have often four names. Currently and despite the official version, “all the hypothesis remain open”. French intelligence agencies have refused till now to comment or elaborate. Even if a possible terrorist attack is not the most probable option at this point, it should not be ruled out given the uncommon circumstances of the crash.

Madagascar/France/Crisis: UN say military intervention not advisable

The United Nations and France warned on Tuesday that military intervention to  resolve Madagascar's political crisis was not a good idea. "We feel that military intervention is not the right idea," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier told reporters at a press briefing.

The reaction comes after the 19-member Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), said military intervention to restore constitutional order could be an option to restore constitutional order in Madagascar. “This sort of statement does not help. We don't need this kind of declaration," said UN envoy Tiebile Drame, adding that COMESA should focus its efforts on supporting the political process.

Madagascar's elected president Marc Ravalomanana was toppled by opposition leader Andry Rajoelina in March. Rajoelina, who had called Ravalomanana corrupt and dictatorial, has established a transitional authority on the Indian Ocean island and promised an election by late 2010. The political turmoil, which broke out at the start of 2009 has devastated Madagascar's economic growth.

France/Organised Crime: police seize 690kg of pure cocain

French customs officers have seized during a routine patrol on Wednesday the largest amount of cocaine “ever made in France”. The French police has indeed discovered 690 kilos of pure cocaine hidden in the trailer of a truck registered in Great Britain and returning from Spain. This seizure happened on the highway at Montpellier just before the toll of Saint-Jean-de-Vedas.

The customs officers used a truck scanner which can make a real ray of the contents of vehicles. The officers found “a difference of gray in the middle of the truck with pallets of a different density. So we decided to check, but we needed to take everything out of the truck refrigerator because we were really having some doubts,” said an investigator to the local daily newspaper Midi Libre. Then the officers found the boxes were coated with paint and that, they contained also coffee marc to outwit the dogs. By opening the boxes, they finally discovered the pure cocaine packed in several layers of plastic or rubber.

The two drivers were immediately arrested and remanded in custody in Montpellier. They denied having been aware that they were carrying drugs. They have explained they were from southern Spain and were to deliver their cargo to England and Scotland.

Five Islamists arrested near Lyon

The French police has announced on Wednesday that five persons suspected of belonging to a terrorist network had been arrested on Tuesday morning in the Rhône and the Haute Savoie Region (south-east of France).  Four men are suspected to be close of a djihadist fighters’ network which sent new recruits in Afghanistan. A woman has also been arrested. All of them are also suspected to be linked to a propaganda network based in Belgium and called “Minbar”. The Belgian organisation which has been closed, used a website in which it provided technical information to volunteers who wanted to fight in Afghanistan.

Two out of the five were arrested in Albertebille and taken into custody by the Central Directory of Interior Intelligence (Direction Centrale du Renseignement intérieur - DCRI). Their identity has not been revealed but authorities said the investigation had been very long and had focused on Islamist networks.

France/Organised Crime: French police dismantles a drug trafficking network in Saint-Tropez

French police has arrested this Monday sixty persons suspected to be involved in a drug trafficking of cocaine and heroin in Saint-Tropez (4km east of Marseille).  A dozen people, including allegedly leaders of the trafficking were arrested in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône). The others suspects were arrested in Saint-Tropez, Cogolin, Grimaud, Sainte-Maxime and Frejus (Var). Investigators discovered indeed that the network was divided between Marseille, where the leaders were operating, and the plain of Grimaud, near Saint-Tropez, where retailers and consumers in hard drugs found their main source of supply.

According to a source close to the investigation, about 2,000 stamps of ecstasy, 100 grams of heroin and 60,000 euros were seized and searches were continuing. The investigation began in September 2008 after the police discovered in the plain of Grimaud, a man burned at 70% in a caravan. Police discovered the man had signs of injuries that could be linked to a drug trafficking. Currently, two people have been arrested for “attempted murder”. In January 2009, an investigation about drug trafficking had been launched.

Suspected member of ETA arrested in Paris

According to police source, a suspected member of the terrorist organisation Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) has been arrested this Monday in Paris. The man was driving a stolen car this morning at 5:00 a.m. (local time) in Boulogne-Billancourt, an outskirt of Paris. He was arrested after he tried to escape from a routine road patrol.

In April, six suspected members of the separatist organisation including Jurdan Martitegi Lizaso, Alexander Uriarte Cuadrado, and Gorka Aspitarte were arrested in the city of Montauriol (near Perpignan, eastern Pyrenees region) during a joint Franco-spanish police operation.

France/United Arab Emirates/Defence: Paris to open first military base in Abu Dhabi

United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan announced at a maritime security conference on Monday that France will open its first military base in the Gulf Arab region on Tuesday. "We look at this cooperation as an important pillar of our foreign policy because it helps the stability in the Gulf region.”

Riad Kahwaji, chief executive of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, said, "from the Abu Dhabi side, they have the full commitment from another western power to the security of this region and also there’s no more monopoly from one side for security in the region, and definitely they will look for more contribution from the French in terms of transfer of technology and industrial and economic programmes together." "The decision to host the French base was taken by the UAE government to allow a country like France to take part in ensuring the security of oil supplies from the region in the case of a hostile action against oil carriers by terrorist groups, pirate gangs or even by a hostile government," he added.

Reportedly, French President Nicolas Sarkozy will open the base on Tuesday. The new installation in Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE will support French naval operations in the Gulf and Indian ocean, is France’s first overseas military base in 50 years. Bernard Kouchner, French Foreign Minister said the naval base in Abu Dhabi aimed to support and train "France's allies" in the fragile region.

 A “multinational” al-Qaeda cell including a Belgian and a French dismantled in Cairo  

Sources in the Egyptian Interior Ministry said today that seven suspected terrorists were arrested earlier this month, at an unspecified date, in connection with the investigation on the deadly attack in Khan Khalili in last February.  Several of the suspects are foreigners. One of them planned attacks in France.

This attack, on February 22, was the first in central Cairo since 2006. A French teenager was killed and more than 22 people, mostly tourists, were wounded. The attack was claimed by a previously unknown “Palestinian Army for Islam” (PAI)   

It appears now that PAI is the name of a cell linked to al-Qaeda.

Two things are particularly interesting in this case. Firstly, the cell is truly  “multinational”. It was formed by Two Palestinians, two Egyptians, a British-Egyptian, a French from Albanian descent and a Belgian-Tunisian, all of them arrested.

 

Secondly, 2 of its members (the French and one Egyptian) were women. 

All the foreigners entered Egypt as students. 

Given the Egyptian sources, some of the members of the cell went to Gaza, using smuggling tunnels to be trained in carrying out attacks.  

It seems that the cell was planning new attacks, against tourist resorts in Sinai and against oil-pipelines between Egypt and Israel.  

The Belgian member of the cell is said to have confessed he was preparing to go back to Europe. He said he had to meet other members of al-Qaeda in Belgium and, then, enter France to commit a terrorist attack against an unspecified target.  

It must be underlined that this is not the first time some links appears between Egypt, France and Belgium in terrorist files. In December 2006, 2 Belgian and 8 French were arrested in the country. They were thought at the time to be on their way to Iraq and were deported top their country of origin.  

This new case shows clearly that al-Qaeda is now really a multinational organisation that is still is attractive, including to women and that France remains a “natural target” for the terrorists.   

France/Crime: armoured police van ambushed by gunmen in Paris’s suburb

Unidentified gunmen attacked an armoured police van with a Kalashnikov assault riffle early on Sunday in Seine-Saint-Denis department, in the outskirts of Paris. The assailants were reportedly trying to free a drug trafficking suspect arrested on Saturday after a shootout with the police in la Courneuve. The gunmen however failed to achieve their goal, and no police officers have been hurt in the attack. the gunmen suceeded to escape after the shooting.

The suspect was brought back to prison after a visit in the neighbouring Bondy hospital when gunmen stopped the van with 2 cars and began to fire. The prisoner then succeeded to escape, only to be catch again short after the shooting. Five cartridges were later found on the spot, as well as 3 bullets holes on the van.

“It is the first time that such weapons are used in urban violence”, said Jean-François Herdhuin, the district director of the public safety in Seine-Saint-Denis. “I’ve heard about that only related to organize crime,” he added.

France/Spain/Insurgency: Police seize arms caches near Paris

Spanish law enforcement officers, along with French police, seized two caches of weapons in the town of Maisse, south of Paris. Both caches purportedly belongs to the Spanish left-wing First of October Anti-Fascist Resistance Groups (GRAPO), said Spain's interior ministry on Monday evening. It also added that the seizue occured last April 28. The forces were apparently looking for the missing body of Spanish industrialist Publio Cordon, abducted by the group in 1995. Cordon was never released, even though a 400 million pesetas (2,4 million euros) ransom was paid for the release. It has been reported that four pistols, two revolvers, ammunition, 20 detonators and 8.1 kilogrammes (18 pounds) of bomb-making materials were found inside the caches.

GRAPO is held responsible for carryout 339 bombings, 80 murders – a total of at least 1,000 acts of violence – since it was established in 1975. However, the Marxist organisation, laid low after the arrest of Fernando Silva Sande, one of its leaders, in 2000.

Two French “al-Qaeda members” with Belgian links arrested in Italy and said to have planned attacks against Roissy Charles De Gaulle airport 

(Didier Lebrun/Photo News) 

Italian media source said this morning that two French citizen belonging to al-Qaeda were arrested in Bari (south). The two suspected terrorists were “planning attacks against French and British interests” said the ANSA press agency. Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport was named as one of their targets.  

The names of the men were not confirmed by the authorities but ANSA thinks they are Bassam Ayachi and Raphael Gendron (photo). Both men are well known: “Cheikh” Bassam Ayachi is a Syrian Born preacher who worked for years in Brussels (Belgium) and headed the Centre Islamique Belge (Belgian Islamic Center). His name appeared in terrorists files linked to the Algerian GIA’s activities in Europe, in the nineties.  

Raphael Gendron was convicted, last year, along with the son of “Cheikh Bassam” for the hate messages posted on an Islamic website they were running.  

It is yet unclear if the Italian Press refers to an arrest which occurred in last November, when AYACHI and others were suspected of smuggling illegal aliens in Europe or if “Cheikh Bassam” was arrested a second time in the same city, but it is the first time details on a possible terrorist plot emerge.

France/Corsica/Terrorism: a villa was bombed in the city of Tizzano

A terrorist attack has targeted on Sunday evening (10:30 pm local time) a villa belonging to a French at Tizzano, in the Sartene province (South Corsica). According to police source, the house was empty when the bomb exploded. It was however seriously damaged. The attack has not been claimed yet.