Paris, June 06: French authorities have arrested a
Moroccan man in connection with an investigation into the
Sept 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, judicial
officials said today.
Karim Mehdi, 34, was taken into custody on Sunday at
Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, the officials said on
condition of anonymity. He had arrived from Germany, and
planned to leave to the French island of La Reunion off
Southeastern Africa.
The arrest was the first in France since French
anti-terrorism judges opened an investigation into the Sept.
11 attacks just a few weeks they took place.
Mehdi was to appear before a judge today evening before
being placed under investigation - one step short of being
officially charged - for alleged connection with a terrorist
enterprise, officials said.
The judicial sources said they believe Mehdi had links to
a suspected cell of the al-Qaeda terror network operating out
of Hamburg, Germany.
Three of the suicide hijackers who seized control of
commercial airliners for the Sept. 11 attacks - including the
alleged ringleader, Mohammed Atta - allegedly had ties to the
Hamburg cell.
A Hamburg court in February convicted Mounir el Motass
Deq, also a Moroccan, and sentenced him to 15 years in prison
for providing support for the Hamburg cell. He was the first
Sept. 11 suspect anywhere in the world to be convicted for his
part in the attacks.
Another Moroccan man, Abdelghani Mzoudi, is to go on
trial in August in Hamburg on the same charges.
Bureau Report
