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               French Suspects Planned to Join Militants in Syria

   by Lisa Bryant

   French authorities say a group of suspected radical Islamists posed the
   biggest danger to France in years and were planning to join militants
   in Syria.
   Paris prosecutor Francois Molins says he will seek attempted murder and
   terrorism charges against seven suspects arrested Saturday during a
   country-wide police operation.
   Molins says France has not witnessed such a dangerous threat since 1996
   - almost 20 years ago.  At that time, Algerian Islamists conducted a
   series of bombings in France at the height of Algeria's civil war.
   Molins says this new group of suspects wanted to join militant groups
   in Syria.
   French police arrested 12 people in the nationwide sweep.  Authorities
   have released five of them but are keeping the rest in custody.  Molins
   says those still in detention were all born in France.
   The police investigation has also unearthed bomb-making materials
   hidden at a Paris-area garage.
   Another suspect, Jeremie Sidney, was killed after he shot at police
   during Saturday's raid.  Authorities say they have traced his DNA to a
   September bomb attack against a Jewish grocery store in the town of
   Sarcelles, a suburb of the capital.
   Molins says contrary to what authorities initially thought, the grenade
   used for the Sarcelles attack was not a homemade device, but rather a
   sophisticated bomb.  Police have also found a list of Jewish
   institutions during a search of the suspects' homes.
   President Francois Hollande has vowed to boost security around
   synagogues and other Jewish buildings.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/french-suspects-planned-to-join-militants-in-syria/1524876.html