LONDON, March 22: European police forces acting in tandem have uncovered a plot by Islamic extremists to mount a terror campaign against the World Soccer Cup to be held in France in June this summer.World Cup brouchers, plans of various stadia and a large quantity of liquid explosives have been seized by Belgium police in raids on houses in Brussels which ended in a shoot out and the arrest of seven suspected members of an Algerian terrorist group.
Raymond Kendall, the British director of Interpol, who visited Algeria last week, said the arrested group appeared only as support group, which was arranging forged passports, weapons and money, rather than an active operational unit.
Security sources said the threat to World Cup remained.
Police and intelligence agencies of seven countries including Britain and France had been alerted to the presence of these radical Islamic groups in their countries. Those captured included Farid Melouk, 33, who was sentenced in absentia by a French Court for involvementin a bombing campaign on French metro in 1995.
French police believe that the brains behind the splinter group are being sheltered by sympathisers in north London, which has Britain's largest concentration of Muslims.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
