| French counter-intelligence agents detained five people Tuesday on suspicion of providing logistical support to Islamic militants with links to Chechen rebels, police said. The suspects were taken into custody in Venissieux, a suburb of the central city Lyon, authorities said. They are being questioned for allegedly providing false passports to militants. Prominent anti-terror judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere ordered the arrests, police said. The suspects’ identities were not released. About 10 suspects from France’s so-called "Chechen networks" have been in prison since a year ago, when officials uncovered a group allegedly planning chemical-weapon attacks on Russian targets. December 2002 raids in the Paris suburbs Romainville and La Courneuve turned up diagrams of chemical formulas for explosives and a substance that, when subjected to heat or put in contact with water, would release a highly toxic gas, judicial officials said at the time. Counter-terrorism agents also found electronic components, a motorcycle battery, a suit to protect against chemical and biological attacks and radiation, two empty gas canisters, false identity papers and electronic equipment. |