Guadeloupe man detained in France suspected of "terrorist" plot

Monday, October 27, 2003

PARIS, France (AFP): A Guadeloupe-born man with ties to Islamic militants has been deported from Australia under suspicion of plotting an attack and is being detained outside Paris by French anti-terrorist authorities, Australian and French officials said.

Willie Virgile Brigitte, 35, was placed under investigation last week for "belonging to a criminal association in relation to a terrorist undertaking" by France's top anti-terrorist judge after being questioned for four days by officers from the counterespionage agency, the DST, French officials told AFP.

French officials said Brigitte - who was born in Guadeloupe and who later converted to Islam and moved to Paris, where he became a teacher - was "small fry" but was of interest because of the way he was allegedly recruited.

Australia's attorney general, Philip Ruddock, said French authorities had warned on September 22 that Brigitte might have gone to Australia in May for terror-related reasons. According to France he had participated in terrorist training in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Ruddock added.

On October 7 the French authorities provided further information and two days later Brigitte was found illegally working in Sydney on a tourist visa and promptly arrested.

"While the man lived in Sydney during his time in Australia, the precise reason for his presence remains unclear at this stage," Ruddock said in a statement. "However, investigations in both Australia and France are continuing."

Brigitte was escorted by officers on the return flight to France on October 17, and was handed over to the DST on his arrival.

They said he had his initial contact with Islamic radicals in the Paris suburbs, and then was believed to have gone to to Yemen and to Pakistan, where he allegedly spent several months in a militant training camp.

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