French 'Islamist' arrests

March 30, 2012

French police detained at least 19 suspected Islamic extremists in dawn raids on Friday, with several of the arrests taking place in Toulouse, the scene of Islamist attacks that claimed seven lives earlier in March.

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Masked special forces police escort a member of the Islamist community under heavy guard — Image: Reuters

Police said however that the latest arrests were "not directly linked" to the killings by 23-year-old Mohamed Merah of three soldiers on March 11 and three children and an adult on March 19.

The aim of the dawn raids was to "dismantle" suspected "networks," as reported by news agency AFP.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy told Europe-1 radio that weapons were seized in some of the raids, including AK-47 assault riffles, as well as a bullet-proof vest.

Some of the arrests were also carried out in the western cities of Nantes and Le Mans.

The police swoops come one day after the burial of Mohamed Merah, who was shot dead by police following a 32-hour siege on his Toulouse apartment.

France cracks down on suspected Islamists

The al Qaeda-inspired gunman had admitted during the siege that he had carried out the killings.

Merah's brother, Abdelkader, has since been placed under investigation over the murders and was being held on suspicion of complicity.

Sarkozy vowed a crackdown on Islamist extremists in the wake of the killings, saying earlier this week that he had ordered French security to "check in detail the situation in our country of all persons identified as a potential risk to national security."

dfm/mz (AFP, Reuters)