Cathedral bomb plot suspects held

PARIS, France -- Three people suspected of belonging to an Islamic terrorist network have been arrested in Paris.

They were part of a cell allegedly behind a plot to blow up Strasbourg cathedral, police said.

French authorities said the arrests of the two men and one woman -- all Algerians -- came as part of an ongoing terror investigation into what is described as an "operational network."

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In December 2000 and April 2001, five other presumed members of the same network were arrested by German police after videotapes of the Strasbourg cathedral were found during an anti-terror investigation in Germany.

The three arrested in Paris are also alleged to have visited training camps in Afghanistan and Chechnya, the French TV station LCI reported.

LCI added that one of the three was being investigated for having played a part in the assassination of the Afghan resistance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud days before the September 11 terror attacks.

The three were arrested on the orders of two anti-terrorism judges, Jean-Louis Bruguiere and Jean-Francois Ricard, who are investigating the alleged plan to attack Strasbourg cathedral, The Associated Press reported.

The suspects can be held for up to four days before being charged or freed.