Word: algerian
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Cherifi is one of seven children born to Algerian parents in suburban Paris. His work ethic and above-average intelligence earned him a university degree in mathematics and computer sciences. Gregarious and personable, Cherifi landed a job as head receptionist with an international hotel chain near Paris and later took on a second job with a computer-software firm. In 1999, at the age of 25, he was married, had a young son and was earning a good living. "Nothing in his life, family background or activities indicated Cherifi was harboring the anger, fanaticism and conspiratorial drive of an Islamist...
These men are not the petty criminals and social misfits recruited by Algerian radicals in the mid-1990s, though. "Today's al-Qaeda networks use smart, educated, respectable men for logistics and support work," says Jacquard. "Not only are they less likely to arouse suspicion and get caught, but their longevity and experience are invaluable assets to the cells they assist in planning terror...
...weeks ago, Algerians Baghdad Meziane, 37, and Brahim Benmerzouga, 30, became the first suspects to be charged in Britain with direct links to al-Qaeda. They were arrested in Leicester shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington D.C. Meziane is accused of directing al-Qaeda operations, inciting an act of terrorism overseas and financing terrorism. Benmerzouga is also charged with al-Qaeda membership, helping finance operations and possessing racially inflammatory videos. They were arrested on Sept. 25 with Franco-Algerian terrorist suspect Kamel Daoudi, now in custody in France. All three are suspected of links...
Leicester, a manufacturing town in the English Midlands with a large Muslim community and exemplary race relations, is emerging as a hub for suspected Algerian terror-related activities. Apart from Beghal, Daoudi, Meziane and Benmerzouga, French brothers David and Jerome Courtellier - the latter arrested in the Netherlands on suspicion of terrorism - also apparently stayed in Leicester. Raids by antiterrorist police in the town two weeks ago scooped up nine Algerian suspects. Terrorism charges were subsequently dropped against all of them, but five are being investigated for credit-card fraud...
...British Algerian connection comes as no surprise to French intelligence services - who have long accused Britain, with its strong civil-rights groups and traditions of free speech, of harboring Algerian terrorist suspects. The French are experienced in Algerian extremism, having contended with the brutal campaigns of organizations like the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) and the breakaway Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (SGPC) - both founded after the cancellation of 1992 elections by the Algerian government when it became clear the fundamentalist Islamic Salvation Front was poised...