December 31, 2002	Tuesday	Shawwal 26, 1423

PARIS, Dec 30: French police said on Monday they had arrested a 27-year old Algerian national, who was caught with explosive materials in his car, and suspect he was preparing an attack at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport, where he’s employed as a baggage handler.

Police found in his possession an important quantity of plastic explosives — possibly Semtex — as well as two detonators, an automatic pistol as well as a machine gun.

Paris, with 71 million passengers annually, is the world’s sixth busiest airport city, with Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport one of the busiest in Europe.

Police said that the individual continued to refuse to answer their questions, but admitted that they had no records on the man, and were unable to link him with any existing extremist group.

Still, police proceeded to search his apartment located in the city of Bondy, where they arrested his father and his two brothers as well as a “friend of the family,” according to a police spokesman.

Police said they were surprised that the individual continued to possess his special access badge to the high-security zones at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport, especially as more than 200 employees — most with Muslim names — had their accreditation suspended during 2002, some of them because they were found to have criminal records, others because they were simply suspected of belonging to extremist organizations.