France arrests Islam convert planning attack on tourists

PanARMENIAN.Net - A radicalized convert to Islam has been arrested in France for allegedly planning to attack American and Russian tourists at a popular medieval site, legal sources said Thursday, June 16, AFP reports.

News of the arrest came as the country reeled from yet another terror attack, after an extremist pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group killed a policeman and his partner at their home in the Paris suburb of Magnanville on Monday.

A judicial source said the 22-year-old suspect was arrested on Monday night in southern Carcassonne where he had gone to carry out "a violent act, in particular targeting Americans and Russians".

He had in his possession "a knife and a small mallet", the source said, according to AFP.

The suspect comes from the southern French town of Lunel -- notorious for the number of residents who have left to wage jihad in Syria -- but had been living in the nearby Tarn region.

France has been under a state of emergency since Islamic State gunmen and suicide bombers struck Paris in November, killing 130.

And terror fears have been heightened by the presence of hundreds of thousands of fans for the month-long Euro 2016 football championship.