France: Eight arrested for mosque attack

The suspects are apparently a group of neo-Nazis.

----

French police have arrested eight people, including several soldiers, over an arson attack on a mosque in southwestern France.


The suspects, aged 18 to 30, were taken into custody Wednesday for questioning over the April 20 attack in Colomier near the city of Toulouse, in which arsonists started a fire in the mosque entrance and trashed a next-door prayer room.


The arrests took place near the cities of Toulouse, Castres and Carcassonne, where two soldiers were reportedly detained at their barracks, AFP quoted local newspaper La Depeche du Midi as saying.


State prosecutor Michel Valet said it was "too soon to say" if the suspects had links to extreme-right groups.


President Nicolas Sarkozy has vowed to step up the fight against Islamophobia in France following the mass desecration last month of the Muslim section of the country's biggest war cemetery.


France is home to Europe's largest Muslim community, estimated at five million.


Sources: Press TV (English), La Depeche du Midi (France)

See also: France: Mosque damaged in arson attack

3 comments:

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.