Al Qaeda plot on Eiffel Tower, Louvre and nuclear plant foiled by police
French police claim they intercepted and foiled a plot by Al Qaeda-linked operatives, including a suspect who is a local butcher, to bomb the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre museum, a nuclear power plant and an arts festival, French and British media are reporting.
The Telegraph details the plan which police “stumbled on” after decrypting coded messages exchanged between the butcher, a 29-year-old French national of Algerian descent in southern France, and a top member of Al Qaeda in the Maghreb, or AQIM.
France foiled an Islamist terrorist plot to target the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and even a nuclear power plant, it emerged on Wednesday, as the country unveiled new, tougher anti-terror rules.
According to Le Parisien newspaper, in April last year, the married father of two who went by the pseudonym Abu Jaji was asked by his AQIM contact, whose web alias was Redouane18, to make “suggestions concerning how to conduct jihad in the place you are currently”.
Ali M suggested targeting nuclear power plants, “planes at the moment of take-off”, and a string of French landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre museum in Paris.
Failing that, he suggested launching terror attacks on “the modest and poor French population” in markets or nightclubs, as well as police patrols.
“The main walkways become black with people and a simple grenade can injure dozens of people, not to mention a booby trapped device,” he said.
His contact then asked him to travel with a fellow would-be terrorist to Algeria to “benefit from a military training and training in combat techniques”.
After that, he would return to France, stake out targets and “await your instructions”.
“I am fully ready and prepared,” he replied.
Marc Trevidic, one of France’s highest-profile anti-terror judges, said the case of Ali M was far from being isolated. “There are doubtless others on our soil programmed to harm French interests,” he told Le Parisien.
A 2012 report detailed the booming Muslim population and stated that the country would become mostly Muslim in the next couple of decades.
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