French police have arrested a man in the nation’s Capital of Paris in connection with an alleged terrorist plot targeting the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral. The arrest comes nearly five years after the cathedral was devastated was a massive fire, the cause of which has never been identified.
French officers of the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI) announced the arrest of an Egyptian national with suspected ties to the Islamic State terrorist group. The man was taken into custody earlier this month on suspicion of planning an attack on Notre Dame Cathedral.
While the man’s arrest was announced at the time, key details such as his nationality, alleged ties to ISIS and his planned attack on the iconic cathedral were first reported by French outlet Le Journal du Dimanche.
The suspected terrorist has since been charged with “criminal terrorist association” and was placed under pre-trial detention on March 8, according to a report from Breitbart News.
“Everything is done to ensure the safety of the French. The prefects received very precise instructions; radicalized people are closely monitored. We have strengthened the security of places of worship and educational buildings, but also of transport and public buildings as well as festive, cultural and religious gatherings,” the French Ministry of the Interior said in a statement.
“Since 2015, the DGSI workforce has been doubled, increasing to more than 5,000 agents. The budget has also been significantly revised upwards. At the same time, 10,000 police officers and gendarmes are mobilized to exercise increased surveillance of places at risk.”
The latest incident comes nearly five years after a fire devastated the medieval cathedral in April 2019. The fire caused extensive damage to the building’s majestic hand-carved roof and caused the iconic spire, which had been one of the most recognizable parts of the Paris skyline, to collapse completely.
A definitive cause of the blaze has never been established, though officials have blamed it on an “accident” that most likely involved a lit cigarette or an electrical malfunction.
The French government has spent more than $800 million on renovating the cathedral over the last five years, which is expected to re-open to the public later this year.
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