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PARIS - French police have arrested five suspected radical Islamists in the eastern city of Besancon and seized a number of weapons, including pistols and a Kalashnikov assault rifle, a police source said.
The suspects, an Algerian, a French citizen of Algerian origin and three French citizens of Bosnian descent, were planning a "holy war" but had not finalised their plans, the source added. The five men were aged between 22 and 45 years.
"They hoped to go into action when the opportunity presented itself," he said, adding that they faced charges of "criminal association with a view to preparing a terrorist act".
The source said police originally arrested seven people but only five were detained. They all attended a mosque in Besancon and had been under observation for several years.
The group is suspected of carrying out military-type exercises in woodland and police found a dozen pistols, a number of rifles and hunting material, including camouflage.
- REUTERS
