Editing Strasbourg Cathedral bombing plot

{{Short description|Foiled bombing plot in France}}
{{Infobox terrorist attack
| title       =Strasbourg bombing plot
| location    = [[Strasbourg]], France
| target      = [[Strasbourg Christmas market]], [[Strasbourg Cathedral]]
| coordinates = {{Coord|48.5815|7.75086|display=inline,title}}
| date        ={{nowrap|Planned on 31 December 2000}}
| time        = 
| timezone    = 
| type        =[[Conspiracy (criminal)|Conspiracy]], planned [[pressure cooker bomb]]ings
| injuries    = 
| victims     = None; plot foiled
| numparts    = Four convicted in Germany,<br />10 convicted in France,<br />British linked suspects
}}

In December 2000, an [[al-Qaeda]]-linked plot to bomb the [[Christkindelsmärik, Strasbourg|Strasbourg Christmas market]], at the feet of the [[Strasbourg Cathedral]], on [[New Year's Eve]] was discovered. The plot was foiled by [[France|French]] and [[Germany|German]] police after a terrorist network based in [[Frankfurt]], Germany, the "'''Frankfurt group'''", was unravelled. A total of fourteen people were convicted as part of the plot; four in Germany and ten in France, including the operational leader, [[Mohammed Bensakhria]] ({{aka}} "Meliani"), thought to be a European deputy to [[Osama bin Laden]]. The alleged mastermind of the plot was thought to have been [[Abu Doha]], who was detained in the [[United Kingdom]].

==Arrests==
[[File:Cathédrale ND Strasbourg.jpg|thumb|170px|Strasbourg Cathedral Christmas market (2006)]]
After being tipped off by British intelligence, German police on 26 December 2000 discovered bomb-making equipment during a raid of an apartment in Frankfurt. Four men were arrested.<ref name="PBS">{{Cite news|title=Chronology: The Plots|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/special/cron.html|work=PBS Frontline|date=25 January 2005}}</ref><ref name="WashingtonPost">{{Cite news|title= Five Linked to Al Qaeda Face Trial in Germany|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/04/15/five-linked-to-al-qaeda-face-trial-in-germany/4b7c7dee-6dfd-4ed3-abba-bf474b58db74/|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=15 April 2002}}</ref> Among the findings were several [[pressure cooker bomb|pressure cookers]], 30&nbsp;kg of chemicals that could be used to make explosives, and a notebook describing how to mix homemade bombs.<ref name="Guardian">{{Cite news|title= Four convicted of Strasbourg bomb plot|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/mar/10/germany.france|work=The Guardian|date=10 March 2003}}</ref> A video was also discovered, showing a crowded Christmas market in [[Strasbourg]], with a voiceover in [[Arabic]] calling the people in the video "enemies of [[Allah]]."<ref name="PBS"/><ref name="BBC">{{Cite news|title=Jail for Strasbourg bomb plotters|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4102023.stm|work=BBC News|date=16 December 2004}}</ref> The voiceover, attributed to one of the suspects, further said "This cathedral is Allah's enemy," and "You will go to hell, Allah willing."<ref name="WashingtonPost"/><ref name="Guardian"/> The call that had alerted British intelligence had been made by one in the group asking Abu Doha, the alleged mastermind of the plot, for more cash; Doha was already wanted by the [[United States]] for his connection to the [[2000 millennium attack plots#LAX bombing plot|Los Angeles International Airport millennium bombing plot]].<ref name="PBS"/><ref name="WashingtonPost"/>

Members of the Frankfurt group were found to have trained in al-Qaeda camps in [[Afghanistan]], to have connections to Islamist networks in [[Spain]], [[Italy]], [[Belgium]] and the United Kingdom, and to the [[Algeria]]n terrorist group [[Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat]] (GSPC).<ref name="PBS"/><ref name="WashingtonPost"/><ref name="BBC"/> The discovery of the plot in Frankfurt led to further arrests in the United Kingdom, where another plot of killing members of the [[European Parliament]] was discovered, in which [[Member of the European Parliament|MEPs]] were to be killed with [[sarin]] [[Nerve agent|nerve gas]] during session in Strasbourg in February 2001.<ref name="PBS"/><ref name="Telegraph">{{Cite news|title=Bin Laden British cell planned gas attack on EU Parliament|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/1340692/Bin-Laden-British-cell-planned-gas-attack-on-EU-Parliament.html|work=The Telegraph|date=16 September 2001}}</ref> British police arrested twelve people including Doha in February 2001 as a result of the Frankfurt operation.<ref name="WashingtonPost"/> All British suspects were quickly released due to "lack of evidence," although Doha was subsequently re-arrested.<ref name="WashingtonPost"/> According to the [[Crown Prosecution Service]], the charges against six main suspects were dropped for "security reasons," which was linked by others to an [[MI5]] bid to "monitor" the group.<ref name="Telegraph"/>

==Trials and convictions==
In March 2003, the four suspects in Frankfurt, Aeurobui Beandali, Salim Boukhari, Fouhad Sabour and Lamine Maroni were sentenced to between 10 and 12 years' imprisonment.<ref name="PBS"/><ref name="Irish">{{Cite news|title=Four jailed over plot to bomb Strasbourg|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/four-jailed-over-plot-to-bomb-strasbourg-1.351691|work=The Irish Times/Reuters|date=11 March 2003}}</ref> According to the Frankfurt court, the group had planned to blow up pressure cookers packed with explosives, as they had learned in training camps in Afghanistan.<ref name="BBC"/><ref name="CBS161204">{{Cite news|title=France Convicts Islamic Militants|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/france-convicts-islamic-militants/|work=CBS|date=16 December 2004}}</ref> The target was reported to have been the Christmas market at the Strasbourg Cathedral on New Year's Eve.<ref name="WashingtonPost"/><ref name="Guardian"/> The target was said to have been chosen deliberately for its Christian symbolism.<ref name="Irish"/> Beandali was the only to confess to the plot, while Boukhari and Sabour claimed to have planned to attack an empty synagogue in Strasbourg.<ref name="Guardian"/>

In December 2004, ten suspects were put on trial in [[Paris]], accused of being members of the Frankfurt group.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Ten on trial in France over bomb plot charge|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ten-on-trial-in-france-over-bomb-plot-charge-1.991818|work=The Irish Times/AP|date=6 October 2004}}</ref> The suspects, all Algerian or French-Algerian, were sentenced to terms of up to 10 years, convicted for "criminal association with a terrorist enterprise" with alleged connections to terrorist networks in the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain.<ref name="BBC"/><ref name="CBS161204"/> The group's alleged leaders, Mohammed Bensakhria (a.k.a. Meliani, considered one of Osama bin Laden's "lieutenants" in Europe), 37, and [[Slimane Khalfaoui]], 29, were given 10 years, and [[Yacine Akhnouche]], 30, was given eight.<ref name="BBC"/><ref name="CBS161204"/> Bensakhria, the suspected ringleader, was thought to have fled Germany as he was arrested in Spain in 2001 and subsequently extradited to France.<ref name="Guardian"/> [[Rabah Kadre]], 37, who was in detention in the United Kingdom was given six years, and was [[persona non grata|banned]] from entering French territory.<ref name="BBC"/><ref name="CBS161204"/> The six other suspects, who received lesser terms, were convicted for giving logistical support to the plot by providing false documents to other group members.<ref name="BBC"/><ref name="CBS161204"/>

==See also==
{{Portal|France}}
* [[2000 millennium attack plots]]
* [[Christmas Eve 2000 Indonesia bombings]]
* [[2015 New Year's attack plots]]
* [[Islamist plots to attack the Vatican]]
* [[2016 Normandy church attack]]
* [[Notre Dame Cathedral bombing attempt]]
* [[2016 Berlin truck attack]]
* [[2017 St. Petersburg raid]]
* [[2018 Strasbourg attack]]
* [[Saïd Arif]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}


[[Category:2000s in Frankfurt]]
[[Category:2000s in Strasbourg|Cathedral bombing plot]]
[[Category:Al-Qaeda activities in Europe]]
[[Category:Attacks during New Year celebrations]]
[[Category:Crime in Frankfurt]]
[[Category:Crime in Grand Est]]
[[Category:December 2000 crimes in Europe]]
[[Category:December 2000 in France]]
[[Category:Failed terrorist attempts in France]]
[[Category:Islamic terrorism in France]]
[[Category:Islamic terrorism in Germany]]
[[Category:Islamic terrorism in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Islamic terrorist incidents in 2000]]
[[Category:Church bombings by Islamists]]
[[Category:Plots and attacks using pressure cooker bombs]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in France in 2000]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in Germany in 2000]]

[[Category:Islamist attack plots and attacks on Christmas markets]]
[[Category:Attacks on churches in France]]
[[Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in 2000]]
[[Category:Improvised explosive device bombings in 2000]]
[[Category:History of France–Germany relations]]