French terrorist Merah planned attack on Indian embassy in Paris

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Mohamed Merah, the French Muslim who killed seven and injured five people in Toulouse last March, had planned to launch a massive attack on the Indian Embassy in Paris, according to new revelations. Merah was shot dead by French Special Forces on March 22, after killing three French Army personnel on March 15, and four civilians, including two children, on March 19. But according to French newspaper Le Monde, Merah had initially planned to attack the Indian embassy in Paris. Quoting sources from France’s Central Directorate of Interior Intelligence (DCRI) and the Special Forces (RAID), the French daily says that Merah’s handlers in Pakistan had initially tasked him with attacking Indian diplomatic targets in the French capital. “That was the initial target assigned to him by the Taliban, who trained him for holy war […] in Pakistan during the summer of 2011”, a French intelligence source is quoted as saying in Le Monde. By “Taliban”, the source was most likely referring to Lashkar e-Taiba, one of Asia’s largest militant Islamist groups, which is waging a protracted war against the Indian state in Indian-administered Kashmir and elsewhere. Most Lashkar e-Taiba training camps are located in Pakistan, where Merah, who was Algerian-born, traveled in the summer of 2011. However, the paper says that the DCRI, which is said to have employed Merah as an informant, had received prior warning of the plot, and had notified Indian officials, who in turn were able to beef-up security measures at the embassy. Possibly because of these changes, Merah became discouraged while planning the strike, and eventually dropped his initial plan, opting instead for killing French soldiers and Jewish school patrons in the streets of Toulouse. Indian newspaper The Hindu asked India’s ambassador to France, Rakesh Sood, whether the Indian government was concerned about the article in Le Monde. He replied laconically that “the news report in Le Monde is something we have taken note of”. The latest revelations are expected to revive longstanding questions over why DCRI failed to deal with Merah in time, since apparently the spy agency was aware of his plans, even to the point of notifying the Indian embassy about them.