Pakistani with fake British IDs arrested in France 09/08/2005 00:00

PARIS, Aug 9 (AFP) - A Pakistani man arrested with several false British identity papers in his possession is in French custody after being arrested at a Paris airport, airport officials said Tuesday.

Mohammed Billal Youssaf, 23, a resident of Brescia in Italy, had arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport from the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore and was headed to Britain when he was arrested Sunday, one official said.

He had five fake British passports and five fake British driving licences on him, the official said.

Youssaf was being held by the police crimes unit and checks were being conducted to confirm his identity given in the Pakistani passport he was using.

Police on Monday handed him over to France's DST counter-espionage service specialised in anti-terrorism work, and he remains in detention.

Youssaf's arrest came as intelligence services in France and elsewhere in Europe step up their surveillance of Pakistani immigrant communities in the wake of the deadly July 7 bomb attacks in London.

Three of the four suspected suicide bombers were British Muslims of Pakistani origin. The fourth suspect was a 19-year-old Muslim convert born in Jamaica.

On Monday, Le Figaro newspaper said a confidential report by France's DCRG intelligence service finalised days before the London bombings pointed to the threat of an al-Qaeda attack on Britain and highlighted the need to closely observe France's 40,000-strong Pakistani community with a view to preventing an attack on French soil.

An interior ministry official confirmed the existence of the report, but cautioned that it was "a very technical study on the Pakistani community in France."

Copyright AFP

Subject: French news, terrorism, Pakistan, security