French counterterrorism agents on Thursday arrested three people suspected of belonging to a terror group with “indirect links” to al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a police spokeswoman said.
The roundup near Paris came in connection with a similar sweep Monday near the capital and in the northern Oise region which netted 25 suspects, said national police spokeswoman Catherine Casteran.
The three were believed to be part of a terror ring with “indirect links” to al-Zarqawi, she said.
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking in parliament on Wednesday, described a web of links between the alleged network in France — which police say included both Islamic militants and common criminals — and other terror cells and groups, including al-Zarqawi’s.