French Militant Fought U.S. in Iraq

French officials said Friday that an Islamic militant from the Paris area died in combat in Iraq this summer, the first case of a Frenchman confirmed to have joined the increasing number of young Europeans sent by Islamic networks to fight U.S. troops.

Officials identified the man as Redoane H., 19, of Tunisian descent, according to press reports. A top French law enforcement official told The Times recently that intelligence agents had determined that the man had died in the Fallouja area in July, offering evidence that militants here are sending recruits to Iraq.

“We do not consider it a full-fledged network like the ones that sent people to Afghanistan and Chechnya in the past, but rather, scattered groups involved in this activity,” a French anti-terrorism investigator said.

Although France opened a formal investigation into Iraq-bound jihadis only last month, The Times has reported that investigators here and elsewhere in Europe established months ago that Iraq had become a new front for the anti-Western jihad and dozens of radical Muslims had traveled there from Europe.

“We know of 20 to 30 cases of men from Milan alone who have made the trip to Iraq,” a top Italian anti-terrorism official said in an interview this week. “We would say there are dozens. We are working especially with our French, Belgian and Spanish colleagues on this issue.”

Italian investigators were in Paris this week talking with French counterparts about a suspected key figure involved in recruitment in France for Iraq. The suspect is tied to an Egyptian fugitive captured in Milan in connection with the Madrid train bombings in March. The arrest in May of the Egyptian, Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, revealed the existence of a network linked to the Madrid attacks that was simultaneously funneling jihadis to Iraq.

Before his arrest, Ahmed allegedly worked with associates in Paris and Brussels to send a number of jihadis via Syria. Belgian police arrested a group about to leave for Iraq under his direction and found evidence of others who had already left.

Italian wiretaps showed that a close associate of Ahmed, another Egyptian identified only as Mohammed, served as a hub for the network in Paris, investigators say. Mohammed may be the brother of a young Egyptian who provided Ahmed with a hide-out in Milan, officials say.

But French police did not arrest the suspect in Paris. His whereabouts are unclear.

Officials say fewer fighters are originating from France than from Italy, Germany, Belgium and especially North Africa. French officials are sensitive about the potential U.S. reaction as well: Although France staunchly opposed the war in Iraq, it is cooperating with U.S. anti-terrorist agencies.

The French government has kept quiet partly because officials did not want to jeopardize the lives of two French journalists who have been held hostage by Islamic militants since late August, according to the top French law enforcement official.

Nonetheless, the official said the death of Redoane H. in Fallouja, a militant hot spot, proves the frontline presence of French jihadis.

Investigators suspect that many recruits join the network of Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant who is suspected of leading attacks in Iraq and has a longtime presence in Europe as well as Jordan, Syria, Turkey and Iran -- all gateways to Iraq.

Increasingly, European militants travel to Syria saying they intend to study Islam and Arabic, concealing plans to slip across the border and join militant groups, according to the French law enforcement official.

“Syria is heating up,” the official said. “It is the heart of the territory where Zarqawi’s network operates.”

The slain French militant drew attention this summer in a investigation by French prosecutors into a suburban Paris mosque involved in militant recruitment. A text message sent to a suspect in France via celluar phone indicated that a group of jihadis had arrived successfully in Iraq after traveling through Syria, French anti-terrorism officials said. The French militant allegedly traveled via Syria with his brother.