PARIS ( AP) — French police detained 19 people today as they launched a crackdown on suspected Islamist extremists in cities around the country, President Nicolas Sarkozy said, promising more raids to come.
Tensions are high following a spate of killings in southern France by a radical Islamist that left seven people dead and two wounded and ended up with police killing the gunman last week after a 32-hour standoff.
But French Interior Minister Claude Gueant told journalists “there is no known link” between those detained today and Mohamed Merah, the 23-year-old Frenchman who claimed responsibility for the shootings in Toulouse and Montauban.
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