French-Algerian believed to be leading insurgency group in Iraq: officials

French-Algerian believed to be leading insurgency group in Iraq: officials

FRENCH-ALGERIAN BELIEVED TO BE LEADING INSURGENCY GROUP IN IRAQ: OFFICIALS
Received Wednesday, 15 December 2004 18:28:00 GMT

PARIS, Dec 15 (AFP) - A French-Algerian man is believed to be leading an Islamic insurgency group of around 20 combatants in Iraq against US-led forces there, French intelligence officials said Wednesday.

The suspect, identified as Fawzi D., was thought to have left his family in western France to go to Iraq via Syria in the middle of 2004, France's foreign intelligence service, the DGSE, said, confirming a report in Le Monde newspaper.

'There are no more than around a dozen French citizens' in Iraq fighting alongside insurgents there, an anti-terrorist official said, adding that some of them were thought to be in Fawzi D.'s group.

Most or all had Arab north African background and some had been schooled in radical Islam in French mosques, officials said.

[Getting training for the future of France??]

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