(Guardian-UK) French police are convinced their country has escaped a planned chemical or biological attack by an Islamist cell linked to al-Qaeda. An interior ministry official said evidence from Islamist militants arrested last week made it "very plain" that an attack with deadly botulism or ricin toxins was being actively prepared. The eight suspects were mainly relatives of Menad Benchellali, the son of a radical imam in the Lyon suburb of Venisseux and a chemicals expert who had been trained in poison-making in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan. He had tested his chemicals on animals, suspects said. "We thought we were dealing with a group planning bomb attacks on Russian interests," an investigator said. "It now seems a cell around the Benchellali family was trying to manufacture chemical and biological weapons for attacks around Europe." Muslims in Venisseux protested against the arrests on Saturday.
2004-01-13 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive