Sunday, October 07, 2012

10 Salafist Jihadis Arrested in France Today, 1 Killed in Shootout with Police

Nidra Poller

Eleven Salafist jihadis were arrested at dawn today in Strasburg, Paris, Cannes and Cannet. The prime suspect, Jérémie Louis-Sydney was shot dead after opening fire when the police commandoes burst into his apartment at 6 AM. His DNA had been found on the grenade used in the September 19th attack on a kosher grocery story in the Parisian banlieue of Sarcelles. The media had underplayed the attack and were apparently ready to underplay the arrests before officials began releasing information on the case. Though it is extremely rare for suspects to be killed this way, the first reports that came over the wires were so laconic that one would have thought they were talking about some everyday violence in Pakistan! A deadpan voice on France Culture radio mentioned as if in passing: one dead and 7 arrested in a raid this morning… One dead? And it wasn’t the policeman, it was the suspect!


Thirty-three year-old Jérémie Louis-Sydney, a convert to Islam, was paying a conjugal visit to one of his niqab-clad wives in Strasburg, the 22 year-old mother of a newborn baby. The police knew he was dangerous but thought they had a “minute of surprise” to overwhelm him, but Sydney was on his feet, waiting for them. He emptied the barrel of his Magnum 357, aiming at the head and chest of a policeman whose life was saved by his helmet and bullet-proof vest.  His colleagues returned fire, killing Sydney on the spot. The procureur of Strasburg explained at a press conference this afternoon that Sydney had shaved his beard when he got to Strasburg. “It seems,” he said, “it seems that this means he was ready to become a martyr.”

Information is slowly emerging. All of the arrested Salafists belonged to a tightknit cell, several of them have been jailed or arrested for drug dealing. They were radicalized in prison. Among the items seized from their homes are weapons, ammunition, computers, €27,000 in cash, al Qaida glorifying literature, and a list of Jewish targets in and around Paris. (Because the procureur used the quaint term “israélite” for “Jewish” some English language media are reporting that the targets were Israeli.).

The investigation of the attack on the Naouri grocery store in Sarcelles was turned over from local police to the anti-terrorist unit just a few days ago. It is not exactly clear how the investigation had proceeded up to that point. How long did it take to match the DNA with Sydney who had been under surveillance by the domestic security agency since last spring, though never called in for questioning?

An expert on terrorism interviewed on BFM TV early this afternoon emphasized the failure of the media to grasp the importance of the attack against the kosher grocery store. It wasn’t some random act of vandalism, he said, it was a terrorist attack. In fact, the media were doing as usual, making every attack on a Jewish target seem like a random act of vandalism that wasn’t necessarily anti-Semitic and certainly not connected to the hundreds of similar attacks perpetrated since the fall of 2000 when the infamous al Dura blood libel unleashed what we can now recognize as domestic jihad. The still unenlightened journalist suggested to the expert that the grocery store attack was not the same kind of operation as the Merah killings. On the contrary, the expert replied, visibly shocked, it is the same thing. These are criminals radicalized in prison and prepared to fight the jihad here.

Interior Minister Manuel Valls, appearing on the TF1 evening news, was not evasive. These people hate France, hate the Jews, and we are not going to let them operate in our country. The Hollande government is determined to show that it can do better than Sarkozy on the law and order detail. More power to them. Underlining the gravity of the affair, Valls declared—forgetting Sébastien Sélam and Ilan Halimi-- that Jews were killed by Merah because they were Jewish, the first time this has happened in France since the Shoah. This does not take away credit for his recognition today of the mortal danger that weighs on Jews in France. And its origin.

The president and the prime minister also made strong statements about their determination to protect citizens from terrorists. The usual disclaimer—these criminals should not be confused with the vast majority of law-abiding Muslims in France—was balanced by a clear enunciation of the connection between violence against Jews, terrorism, and Islam.

Jewish community leaders who have worked so hard to obtain recognition of this connection and convince the government to attack the evil at the root instead of just holding memorial services for the victims will find encouragement in today’s resolute action. If, of course, the courts follow through and don’t release the suspects in a few days! There will surely be extensive commentary after shabat.

There was much confusion about the weapon used in the kosher grocery store attack. Misleading English-language reports made it sound as if there was a big explosion, while misleading French reports talked about a training grenade or a plaster grenade (used somehow in construction?). In fact it was a defensive grenade from ex-Yugoslavia that had been filled with nails and bolts to increase its lethal capacity. CCTV cameras showed the two assailants in the store dressed in black with their faces hidden by hoods but when they ran outside a gust of wind revealed their faces and they were recognized to be Black. Sydney, who was born in Melun outside of Paris, is of Antillais (West-Indian) origin. Another suspect was arrested in Torcy (outside Paris) as he came home from the mosque. He didn’t resist, but was armed with a 22 rifle.

Other suspects are still being tracked. As we can imagine, one Salafist cell will lead to discovery of another, and another…

There has been mention of ties with Syria. A white-haired French doctor formerly with Médecins sans Frontières who offered his service to the fighters in Syria has declared recently, with utter calm, that he came upon quite a few French jihadists in Syria.
The government is going to pass legislation prepared by the previous government after the Merah killings that will make it possible to arrest and imprison jihadis before they go into action; systematic consultation of jihad sites and internet communication with jihadis, joining jihad training camps in Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc. and, perhaps, drawing up lists of Jewish targets will be criminalized.

Updates will be posted in the coming days. 

No comments: