Jewish museum shooting arrest: Were seeds for Brussels attack sown in Syria?
| Paris; Brussels
French police聽have arrested a 29-year-old man suspected of involvement in the聽shooting聽deaths last weekend of three people at the Jewish Museum in聽Brussels, an attack that stoked fears of growing anti-Semitic violence in聽Europe.
Mehdi Nemmouche, a French citizen, was detained in the southern French city of聽Marseille聽on Friday and had a聽Kalashnikov聽assault rifle and another gun with him, a French police source said on Sunday. Nemmouche is from the northern city of聽Roubaix聽and spent time in jail in 2012, the source said.
French media reported that he was suspected of having stayed in聽Syria聽with Islamist jihadist groups last year. Islamist insurgents are playing a major part in a three-year-old uprising against Syrian President聽Bashar al-Assad.
If confirmed, the聽Syria聽connection would deepen concerns among European governments about citizens, often with Islamic immigrant backgrounds, going to fight in聽Syria聽and bringing back political and sectarian violence to聽Europe聽on their return.
An Israeli couple and a French woman were killed on May 24 when a man entered the聽Jewish Museum聽in busy central聽Brussels聽and opened fire with a聽Kalashnikov. A Belgian man remains in critical condition in hospital.
French investigators have found a memory stick containing a video in which the suspect was shown carrying a weapon and claiming he used it for the May 24聽shooting, RTL radio reported, without naming its sources.
French President聽Francois Hollande聽confirmed a suspect had been arrested and said聽France聽was determined to do all it could to stop radicalized youths from carrying out attacks.
"We will monitor those jihadists and make sure that when they come back from a fight that is not theirs, and that is definitely not ours ... to make sure that when they come back they cannot do any harm," Hollande told reporters.
The message "to these jihadists is that we will fight them, we will fight them, and we will fight them", he said.
France聽announced new policies in April to stop citizens joining the Syrian civil war, aiming to prevent young French Muslims becoming radicalized and posing a threat to their home country. This is a growing worry in a country that is home to聽Europe's largest Muslim and Jewish communities.
France, which has been a staunch opponent of Assad, estimates the number of its nationals directly or indirectly involved in the Syrian conflict at about 700, of which a third are fighting against the聽Damascus government.
Random Check
French media said Nemmouche was arrested as part of random, drug-related checks atMarseille's bus terminal. Local media also reported that he had in his bag press clippings about the聽Brussels聽Jewish museum聽shooting.
Soulifa Badaoui, who worked as a lawyer for the suspect in the past, told BFM TV Nemmouche was not religious at the time. Asked what role religion played for him then, she said: "None, this was absolutely not part of his personality, he was not observant at all."
The聽Belgian federal prosecutor's office聽confirmed that a suspect had been arrested and said more details would be given at a news conference at 3 p.m. (1300 GMT).
Belgian federal magistrate聽Erik Van der Sypt聽told Reuters that a Belgian judge had issued a European arrest warrant and聽Belgium聽would seek the extradition of the suspect from聽France.
Last weekend's attack occurred on the eve of parliamentary and European elections inBelgium.
Police released a 30-second video clip from the museum's security cameras showing a man wearing a dark cap, sunglasses and blue jacket enter the building, take a rifle out of a bag and shoot into a room before calmly walking out.
European Jewish聽Congress聽President聽Moshe Kantor聽praised French and Belgian authorities for the arrest, saying there was a need to clamp down on the spread of hate crimes, especially by those hardened by bloodshed in places like聽Syria.
"...For too long authorities in聽Europe聽have acted speedily after the fact. It is now time for all to turn attention and set as the highest priority the prevention of these vicious crimes," he said in a statement.
Jewish community officials have drawn parallels between the聽Brussels聽shooting聽and the 2012 killing of four Jews at a school in聽France聽by an al Qaeda-inspired gunman,聽Mohamed Merah.
Security around all Jewish institutions in聽Belgium聽was raised to the highest level after theshooting, and French authorities also stepped up security after two Jews were attacked the same day as they left a synagogue in a聽Paris聽suburb wearing traditional Jewish clothing.
About half of聽Belgium's 42,000-strong Jewish community lives in聽Brussels. At some 550,000,聽France's Jewish community is the largest in聽Europe, though violence such as the 2012 school murders and聽France's stagnating economy have prompted an increase in emigration to聽Israel聽or elsewhere. (Additional reporting by Nicolas Bertin; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
