Iraq-bound man placed under investigation in France

PARIS, Dec 1 (Reuters) A French engineering student who was expelled from Syria on suspicion of trying to join Islamists fighting US forces in Iraq has been placed under formal French judicial investigation, a judicial source said today.

Moustapha el-Sanharawi, 20, from the central city of Tours, was arrested in mid-October on the Syrian-Iraqi border. He was a student at ENSTA, a French engineering institute, in Paris before leaving for Syria, the source said.

Agents from the DST domestic intelligence service detained him on his arrival back in France on Wednesday.

''He was placed under investigation for associating with wrong-doers in relation to a terrorist undertaking,'' the source said.

In France, judges lead investigations before any charges are brought.

Since 2004, French authorities have dismantled several networks ferrying young French Muslims to fight in Iraq, mostly passing via Syria.

French intelligence said last year at least six French nationals had died in fighting in Iraq since 2003 and around 10 others were believed to be fighting alongside rebels.

Authorities fear fighters returning from Iraq could form the core of new French terrorism networks.

Despite its strong opposition to the US-led war in Iraq, France remains a terrorism target because it shares intelligence with Washington and its ally London, has troops in Afghanistan helping to combat Islamic militants, and has helped leaders in its North African ex-colonies fight Islamic radicals.

REUTERS SBA BST0328