France rounds up Muslim militants in wake of murders

barracks today and urged its Western allies to gag sympathisers in

response to the murder of five Frenchmen in Algiers claimed by Islamic

guerrillas.

Hardline Interior Minister Charles Pasqua ordered a highly publicised

dawn roundup of nine Islamists, including two imams (preachers), in

Paris, Lyon, Marseille, and Lille, two days after a Beirut-style attack

on a French embassy housing complex.

They were taken to join seven other militants interned yesterday under

heavy guard at an army camp in the village of Folembray, north-east of

Paris, in moves intended to show the Government was taking firm, fast

action.

Six were served with expulsion orders ''on imperative grounds of state

and public security'', but they will be interned because of the risks

they would face in their home country.

The Foreign Ministry said Paris had asked the United States, Britain,

and Germany through diplomatic channels to silence exiled leaders of the

Algerian Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) on their territory.

Bonn and London immediately denied Pasqua's accusation that they were

soft on Muslim militants and said they had no evidence that crimes had

been committed or prepared on their soil.

The Foreign Office said Britain had consistently taken a strong stand

against terrorism and dismissed the French accusations of giving the

militants shelter.

''Individuals here have full freedom provided that they act within the

law,'' a Foreign Office spokesman said in response to the French

criticism. ''Our stand against terrorism is strong and consistent. We

would look very seriously at any evidence of illegal acts committed by

individuals in this country.''

Three French paramilitary gendarmes and two consular officials were

shot dead on Wednesday when nine assailants, disguised as Algerian

police commandos, opened fire and tried to detonate a car bomb inside

the residential compound.

The radical Armed Islamic Group (GIA), which warned foreigners earlier

this year to leave the country within a month or face attacks, today

claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack in a message faxed to the

London-based Arab newspaper al-Hayat.

Prime Minister Edouard Balladur bitterly condemned the fundamentalists

at an emotional memorial ceremony at Dugny air base, near Le Bourget,

north of Paris.

''An ideology cannot be built on hatred, much less on odious murders.

One does not serve religion by mixing it with terrorism. One cannot

build the future by rejecting the outside world,'' he said in a eulogy

in front of five flag-draped coffins in an aircraft hangar.

Pasqua said on television on last night that French authorities would

take all necessary measures and maintain ''a state of vigilance''

towards Algerian fundamentalists.

Among the militants confined in Folembray, surrounded by barbed wire

fences and armed gendarmes in bullet-proof jackets, was Djaffar

al-Houari, leader of the Algerian Fraternity in France (FAF), seen by

police as a support group for the FIS.

France has strongly supported Algeria's army-backed authorities since

they cancelled a general election in January 1992 which the FIS had been

poised to win.

The move triggered worsening civil strife in which at least 4000

Algerians and 56 foreigners have been killed.

Rabah Kebir, German-based president of the FIS leadership in exile,

told the newspaper Le Monde: ''The position of France, which refuses the

free choice of the Algerian people, negates democracy and gives

unlimited support to the military dictatorship, is an outright

provocation.''

Quoting a proverb, he said: ''He who sows the wind will reap the

whirlwind.''

Officials said France was keen to muzzle Kebir and Anouar Haddam, a

leader of FIS politicians, based in Washington.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Catherine Colonna said Paris had asked

its Western partners again through diplomatic channels to prevent these

leaders from carrying out political activities and making unacceptable

public statements.

Pasqua said the idea that ''moderate'' Islamists could come to power

in Algeria was an illusion. The only choice was between backing a

government that was ''not a model of democracy'' or seeing the most

extreme fundamentalists seize power.

Kebir said through a spokesman that he was considering legal action

against Pasqua after the Minister described him in a French TV interview

as one of the ''murderers' accomplices''.

The opposition Socialist party criticised Pasqua's comments, saying

France would do better to support democratic forces in Algeria rather

than claiming there was no alternative other than the army or the

fundamentalists.

Paris regrouped its remaining personnel in Algiers in the

heavily-guarded embassy compound after Wednesday's attack. Other Western

governments have placed their nationals in Algeria on alert.--Reuter.