by WorldTribune Staff, July 3, 2018
A Belgian couple with Iranian heritage were arrested as they allegedly were on their way to bomb an Iranian opposition group’s rally near Paris, French authorities said.
The French federal prosecutor’s office said the Belgian citizens were charged with “attempt at terrorist murder and preparing a terrorist crime,” saying the couple had targeted the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) rally in the town of Villepinte.
Rudy Giluiani, U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich were among the speakers at the June 30 rally.
Police found a “small toiletry bag” containing about 500 grams, or a little over a pound, of triacetone triperoxide, a homemade explosive known as TATP, as well as an “ignition mechanism,” federal magistrate Eric Van der Sijpt said.
Related: Giuliani at major Iran rally in Paris suggests Trump favors regime change, July 1, 2018
TATP has been used in several terror attacks in Europe in recent years, including the 2016 bombings in Brussels that killed 32 people.
“We can say we arrested them just in time,” Van der Sijpt told The Associated Press. “They were planning a terrorist attack at a conference. I don’t know if they were targeting somebody special.”
Prosecutors said three suspected accomplices were detained in France. An Iranian diplomat based in Vienna was detained in Germany.
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