French police arrest terror suspects

French police detained seven people following dawn raids on Friday in connection with an investigation into alleged plans to attack US interests in France.

French police detained seven people following dawn raids on Friday in connection with an investigation into alleged plans to attack US interests in France.

Both men and women were taken into custody, but there identities were not immediately released.

The seven, arrested in the Val d'Oise region north of Paris and the Essonne region to the south, were being questioned by counterintelligence agents, according to police sources, speaking on customary condition of anonymity.

The sources said the arrests were linked to Djamel Begal, a French-Algerian who was arrested in Dubai in July. Begal informed intelligence services there about alleged plans to attack the U.S. Embassy in Paris and other US targets.

A day before the attacks in New York and Washington, France opened an investigation into possible threats to American interests in France.