France to host 6-nation anti-Islamist terror unit

Paris, Sep 13: Secret agents from six western states are operating a special Paris-based unit dubbed ''Alliance Base'' to help boost the fight against radical Islamist terrorism, a senior police official confirmed today.

Christophe Chaboud, who heads the French anti-terrorism coordination unit Uclat, told France Info radio the unit had enjoyed major successes since its creation in 2002.

''It's an operational unit for exchanging and sharing certain information, which helps improve the efficiency of the participating services,'' Chaboud told the station.

The unit first came to light in US media reports last year but France had until now refused to comment on the set up, which includes agents from the Australia, Britain, Canada, Germany and the United States as well as from host France.

Reported to be run by a French intelligence officer in the chic 7th Arrondissement in Paris, the unit was created under the then Socialist government and kept in place by the right when it won 2002 general elections.

It continued to work despite fierce French opposition to the US-led war in Iraq which triggered a deep diplomatic crisis between the two allies.

''There have been positive results, a few, but very significant,'' Chaboud told France Info.

US media have cited the capture of German national Christian Ganczarski, who was arrested at Roissy airport outside Paris in June 2003. He remains in detention and is suspected of being a senior figure in the international Islamist movement.

Alliance Base is said to have played a key role in his arrest.

The group's name bears some resemblance to the name used by Osama bin Laden's network: al-Qaeda means ''The Base'' in Arabic.

Many French people believe Paris' opposition to the Iraq war protects France from attacks by Islamic militants, but security experts say its intelligence work with Washington in the fight against terrorism makes it a potential Islamist target.

Reuters