The 1995 bombings in France were carried out by the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), who were broadening the Algerian Civil War to France. In total, these attacks killed eight and injured more than a 100. The first stage of the extension of the Islamists' terrorist campaign to France began with the assassination of Abdelbaki Sahraoui, a co-founder of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) who opposed the extension to France of the Algerian Civil War [1].
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Three bombings
On July 25, 1995, a gas bottle exploded in the Saint-Michel - Notre-Dame station of line B of the RER (Paris regional train network). Eight were killed and 80 wounded. On August 17, a bomb at the Arc de Triomphe wounded 17 people. On August 26, a huge bomb was found on the railroad tracks of a high-speed rail line near Lyon. On September 3, a bomb malfunctioned in a square in Paris, wounding 4. On September 7, a car bomb at a Jewish school in Lyon wounded 14. A leader of the group, Khaled Kelkal (a French citizen born in France), was identified through fingerprints left on unexploded bombs. He was killed on September 29 by members of the French EPIGN gendarmerie unit when resisting arrest in hills near Lyon. Yet the attacks continued. On October 6, a gas bottle exploded in station Maison Blanche of the Paris Métro, wounding 13. On October 17, a gas bottle exploded between the Musée d'Orsay and Saint-Michel - Notre-Dame stations of RER Line C, wounding 29.
Arrests and trials
Members of the groups have since been prosecuted for various charges. A number of suspects have fled to the United Kingdom. Extradition proceedings against suspect Rachid Ramda had been ongoing for nearly 10 years, beginning in 1995. Throughout this time, Ramda was detained in London's Belmarsh Prison[2] Ramda was extradited to France on December 1 2005, in connection with the bombings. [3]. On October 26, 2007, Ramda was sentenced to life in prison for financing the attacks.[4] According to the FBI terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann, parts of the money used to finance the bombings came from people connected to the Brandbergen Mosque in Haninge, Sweden.[5]
References
- ^ "Rachid Ramda jugé pour l'ultime procès des attentats de 1995," in Libération, October 1st, 2007 read on-line (French)
- ^ Terrorism and the law: The non-trial The Economist Oct 20th 2005
- ^ UK sends back Metro bomb accused, BBC, December 1st, 2005 (English)
- ^ French court convicts Algerian of Paris bombings
- ^ Petersson, Claes. "Terrorbas i Sverige", Aftonbladet, 2005-07-13. Retrieved on 2007-03-03. (Swedish)
See also
External links
- Naima Bouteldja, The Guardian, September 8, 2005, "Who really bombed Paris?"
