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France detains 'particularly dangerous' jihadist recruiter

Interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said suspect had 'key role' in recruiting French youths in Strasbourg and Toulouse and sending them to Syria.

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A Frenchman suspected of recruiting jihadists and cultivating links with terrorist groups in Syria has been arrested in Turkey and handed over to French authorities, France's interior minister said Thursday, reports FRANCE 24.

Mourad Fares was arrested on August 16 in Turkey and taken into custody in France on Wednesday, Bernard Cazeneuve said in a statement.

Cazeneuve described Fares as a "particularly dangerous individual close to jihadist terrorist movements," including the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate Al-Nusra.

Fares, who went to Syria in July last year and had an international arrest warrant issued against him, had a "key role in recruiting French youths in Strasbourg and Toulouse and sending them to Syria," Cazeneuve said.

Read more of this report from FRANCE 24.