La Paz, Dec 05:Bolivian police has arrested 16 Bangladeshis carrying false documents on suspicion they might be linked to terrorist groups, Interior Minister Alfonso Ferrufino said. The arrests at the airport in Santa Cruz in eastern Bolivia yesterday were part of a joint operation with French intelligence officers.

Ferrufino said French authorities had requested the 16 be detained, on information "that would link these people to terrorism." He would not comment on reports the men were planning to hijack an airliner bound from Santa Cruz to Buenos Aires, saying that was the version that came from the French police. We cannot determine if that was going to happen or not.

Bureau Report