French anti-terrorist police make arrests

French anti-terrorist police arrested at least four people today in connection with a planned attack on the US embassy in Paris and other American interests in France, police said.

Officials said several people were detained in Paris and nearby Suresnes in connection with a broad plot to harm US interests in France.

That plot included a planned attack on the American embassy.

Media reports said four people were detained. Television showed masked police officers, several with dogs, raiding a home in the darkness.

Seven people are already in custody in connection with the alleged plot. The seven were detained at dawn last Friday, in the Val d’Oise region north of Paris and the Essonne region to the south.

The 11 are believed linked to Djamel Begal, a French-Algerian who was arrested in Dubai in July. Begal informed intelligence services there about alleged planned attacks, police officials have said.

Jean-Louis Bruguiere, a French anti-terrorism judge, headed to the United Arab Emirates last week.

He and judge Jean-Francois Ricard opened an investigation into possible threats to American interests in France a day before the September 11 attacks against the United States.