Thursday, March 31, 2016
Associated Press
PARIS
Paris authorities filed preliminary terrorism charges Wednesday against a 34-year-old Frenchman on allegations he plotted an imminent attack and operated an explosives arsenal of what prosecutors called “unprecedented scale.”
Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins said Wednesday that the suspect, Reda Kriket, is accused of participating in a terrorist group with plans for at least one attack, possessing and transporting arms and explosives and holding fake documents, among other charges. Kriket will stay in custody while magistrates continue investigating the case and determine whether to send him to trial.
Kriket is believed to have traveled to Syria in 2014 and 2015 and made several trips between France and Belgium and the Netherlands, Molins said.
At least three other people are in custody in the case in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Molins did not say whether Kriket’s purported plot was linked to the Islamic State network behind last week’s attacks in Brussels and last November’s attacks in Paris.
The prosecutor said no target for Kriket’s thwarted attack has been identified, and Kriket has given limited explanation to investigators in his six days in detention.
Two Algerians believed linked to Kriket’s alleged plot are being held in Brussels. The Belgian federal prosecutors’ office said Wednesday that the men, identified as Abderrahmane A. and Rabah M., will face a hearing next Thursday.
Another Frenchman linked to Kriket, Anis Bari, is being held in the Dutch city of Rotterdam, Molins said.