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Fifth suspect arrested in foiled French attack plot
PARIS, May 7, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – French police arrested a 16-year-old in
the eastern city of Strasbourg on Tuesday as part of an investigation into a
suspected plot to attack security forces and possibly the presidential Elysee
Palace, a judicial source told AFP.
His arrest comes after three adults and another teenager were arrested
on April 26 over plans to carry out what Interior Minister Christophe
Castaner said would have been an “extremely violent terror attack”.
The attack was allegedly planned to coincide with the start of the
Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began in France on Monday, with officials
saying the suspects had scouted out areas near the Elysee and a police
station in the Parisian suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois.
France’s TF1 television said the fifth suspect was a high school student
of Chechen origin who was arrested at his parents’ home.
“Intelligence services suspect he was supposed to publish a video
claiming allegiance to Daesh on the group’s behalf,” TF1 reported, using an
Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group, a claim confirmed by the judicial
source.
“Several projects were envisioned, all against security forces,”
including those stationed outside the Elysee, the source said.
Of the four arrested initially, one is a 17-year-old who served a year
in prison after being convicted of trying to join jihadist fighters in Syria
in 2017.
The three others, aged 26, 38 and 39, were previously known to police
only for petty crimes.
France remains on high alert since a wave of domestic jihadist attacks
since 2015 which have killed more than 250 people.
At the end of March, two men were indicted in Paris on suspicion of
planning an attack on a school or a police officer.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1653 hrs