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French Judge: I Knew Turkish Group Behind Gaza Flotilla Had Terror Ties in 1996
(Ha'aretz) Yossi Melman - Jean-Louis Bruguiere was appointed by the European Union to "dry out" the financial sources that feed the world's terror organizations. Prior to his present role he served as an investigating magistrate in charge of counter-terrorism affairs in France. During a visit to Israel, Bruguiere said that - already in 1996 - he came to the conclusion that the Turkish IHH "is a terror organization and not a charity group." He was asked to investigate the Turkish group after French intelligence discovered that Canadian couriers were sending forged Moroccan passports to France for use by Islamic militants intent on carrying out attacks in France and other European countries. "My investigation revealed a broad and global terror network that reached Bosnia and Afghanistan, whose center was at the Turkish IHH headquarters," says Bruguiere. "We had recordings of telephone conversations and documents from people who explicitly testified that this is a terror group. Turkish authorities raided the group's headquarters for good reason and discovered weapons, explosive materials and forged documents."