Militant Linked to 9/11 Suspect Held in French Bomb Plot
An Islamic militant with reported ties to accused Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui was placed under investigation Saturday in connection with a plot to blow up a cathedral in the eastern French city of Strasbourg, judicial officials said.
The man, who has French and Algerian citizenship, was put under investigation, one step short of being charged, by French Judge Jean-Francois Ricard, officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Police arrested the suspect Tuesday at his home in Paris, they said.
The suspect, who was not identified, allegedly had a role in a failed plot to bomb the cathedral in 2000. Investigators believe that Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network, financed the plot.
A group of Algerians is on trial in Germany for plotting the attack.
French television reported that the suspect had been in contact with Moussaoui, a French national who is the only person charged in the U.S. with conspiring to carry out the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Investigators believe that the new suspect also has lived in Afghanistan and had ties to Al Qaeda.
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