April 1 2012
News.com.Au
- From correspondents in Paris
- AP
- April 01, 2012 8:43AM
- 17 suspected Islamists detained and questioned
- Convicted Lucas Heights bomb plotter among them
- Extradited to France and released on good behaviour
French police arrest a man as part of dawn raids on suspected Islamists in several French cities. Picture: AFP
Frenchman Willie Brigitte converted to Islam and was convicted of plotting to bomb the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor with an al-Qaeda-backed cell while living in Sydney. Picture: AFP
WILLIE Brigitte, a Muslim convert arrested in Australia and extradited to France in 2003, is one of the 17 people detained after dawn raids against suspected Islamists, French police said today.
The head of France’s counterespionage agency says that Islamist radicals detained in a sweep around the country on Friday had a stash of arms, did physical training and may have been preparing a kidnapping.
Police continued to question the 17 people on Saturday, a day after they were taken into custody in the Paris region, Nantes, Marseille, Nice, and Toulouse, a police official close to the investigation said.
Funny how this story is being run in the Australian media, but not in the British media.