A Stop-the-Presses Alert from AP, “Judge: Militants Want to Attack Europe” (thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist):
PARIS – Islamic extremists are returning to France from Iraq’s battlegrounds with the skills and desire to carry out attacks in Europe, a top anti-terror judge said Thursday “” warning that Europe needs a better-coordinated effort to face the threat.
The Iraq war is changing the face of militancy in France, investigating judge Jean-Francois Ricard said in an interview with The Associated Press. As with some of the suspects in the London bombings, some French Islamic radicals with violent intentions are unknown to authorities, he said.
Islamic militants from France have long participated in armed struggles and received battle training around the globe, in places such as Chechnya, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq, Ricard said. But only rarely have such militants sought to bring violence back with them, he said.
“I have confirmation … of this return (from Iraq) with action targeting our countries. We’ve been starting to see it this year” and in 2004, Ricard said. “It’s very worrying.”
“The return of some individuals is starting: They’re taking round trips. You can’t think that once in Iraq, there’s no return,” he said. “It is not true.”