French terror fears over Pakistanis(LeT connection)

French terror fears over Pakistanis

A French intelligence service has warned that several hundred Pakistanis in France have terrorist links and recommended surveillance of the small Pakistani community, a newspaper said.

While most Pakistanis aspire to integrate into French society, several hundred "have chosen the path of terrorism and Salafism to express their hatred of the West," the report said, according to Le Figaro newspaper.

The report by the Central Directorate of General Information, known by its French initials DCRG, said that radical Pakistani activists from southern Asia or Britain have visited France more frequently in recent years.

It also said that militant groups including Lashkar-e-Tayyaba - banned by Pakistan for alleged links to a 2001 attack on India's Parliament - had set up outposts in France, according to Le Figaro.

Monitoring the Pakistani community - about 35,000-40,000 people - is "essential in preventing any violent act," the report said.

France's Interior Ministry did not immediately respond to a call seeking confirmation.

The DCRG also warned that Britain was at risk from radicals within its Pakistani community, Le Figaro said, noting that the report was completed in late June, soon before London's July 7 attacks on three subway trains and a bus.

The attacks killed 52 and the four suicide bombers - three Britons of Pakistani descent and a Jamaican.

France has already been touched by violence by Islamic militants from Pakistan.

On May 8, 2002, a suicide bomber struck a bus carrying French engineers outside the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 11. The French had been helping the Pakistani armed forces develop a new submarine.