French Arrest 31 Suspects in Bombings

Police investigating a six-week wave of bombings Saturday arrested 31 suspected Islamic militants and offered a “substantial reward” for information leading to the arrest of an Algerian-born man suspected in one attack.

File photographs of Khaled Kelkal, 24, the Algerian-born resident of Lyon, were issued by the Interior Ministry and shown on TV hours after the 31 suspects were arrested in Lyon, about 250 miles southeast of Paris.

Investigators said Kelkal’s fingerprints matched those on an unexploded bomb found on a railway track north of Lyon on Aug. 26. Kelkal is also a suspect in a July 15 shootout with police near Lyon in which five officers were slightly injured.

The moves came two days after a booby-trapped car blew up outside a Jewish school in the Lyon suburb of Villeurbanne, minutes before about 700 students were to leave classes. At least 14 people were injured in the blast, the sixth bombing or attempted bombing in France since late July.

As police searched for Kelkal, soldiers took up posts at the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and other prominent spots in Paris as part of a national deployment of troops to help reassure the public.

“We are here to protect, to reassure the French population and tourists,” said Capt. Pascale Denoyelle.

The Interior Ministry announced Friday that 1,800 soldiers would be mobilized around the country to assist police in a security plan last used during the Persian Gulf War.

Investigators suspect that Islamic militants tied to Algeria, a former French colony, are responsible for the wave of attacks. The Algerian-based Armed Islamic Group has promised to punish France for its economic support of the military-controlled government in Algeria.