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Fourteen held in Massoud death probe

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Police have detained 14 people in Belgium and France in connection with the killing of Ahmed Shah Massoud, military leader of Afghanistan's northern alliance, officials said.

The Associated Press quoted French police officials as saying two people were detained in France in raids conducted by the DST, France's intelligence agency, in Paris and in northern France.

They said another 12 were detained in Belgium. Belgian prosecutors said several people were detained in raids on 11 houses, but did not give a number.

Eleven houses were raided by Belgian police as part of an investigation into the Massoud's assassination.

AP quoted the Brussels prosecutor's office as saying the raids were carried out to see if two suicide bombers who fatally wounded Massoud on September 9 had been operating out of Belgium.

The two were reported to have been carrying Belgian passports and posing as journalists.

Officials believe the passports were stolen from Belgium's consulate in Strasbourg, France, or its embassy in The Hague, Netherlands.

Jos Colpin, spokesman for the prosecutor's office, told AP the raids concentrated on houses in Brussels, and in the cities of Leuven and Mons. He added that several people were held for questioning, but no arrests were made.

Last month, British officials arrested an Egyptian, charging him with plotting to murder Massoud.

Massoud, the alliance's military chief, was seen as the leader of the anti-Taliban struggle and a figure who might play a major role in a post-Taliban government.



 
 
 
 



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