Thread: Arrested French couple suspected of ties to potential attack

PARIS (AP) - A French couple arrested this week are facing preliminary terrorism charges after investigators say they uncovered information about a potential attack.

Police say a 23-year-old convert to Islam and her 35-year-old husband went before a judge on Thursday after police searched their apartment in Montpellier uncovered a prosthetic belly intended to mimic pregnancy that was covered in foil.

The Paris prosecutor's office says the two are facing terrorism-related charges, with the woman facing a charge of planning an attack. One French official told The Associated Press that the woman said the

fake belly was to be used for shoplifting, not terror attacks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to the media.

France has been on high alert since the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead and hundreds wounded.

Arrested French couple suspected of ties to potential attack - KFDA - NewsChannel 10 / Amarillo News, Weather, Sports

Radical Islamic convert is arrested in France on suspicion of plotting a suicide bomb attack after she bought a fake pregnancy belly 'to hide explosives'

23-year-old woman was detained by police in Montpellier, southern France

Investigators searched her home and found fake belly covered in silver foil

Counter-terror police called amid suspicions she was planning an attack

A radical Islamic convert has been arrested in France on suspicion of plotting a suicide bomb attack amid claims she bought a fake pregnancy belly to hide explosives.

The unnamed 23-year-old was detained by officers in Montpellier, southern France, on Monday and is in custody with her partner, 35.

Police searched her home and found a fake belly covered in silver foil and investigators believe she may have wanted to use it to conceal an explosive device.

Regional newspaper Midi-Libre reports that counter-terror police from Paris have been called in amid suspicions they were planning an attack.

The fake belly was said to have been covered in foil - a measure that may have helped to disguise it from security metal detectors.

The Local reports that she told police she had the belly to help conceal stolen goods from shops.

But detectives are said to have found ISIS propaganda documents at her home.

According to Le Parisien officers said there was evidence the pair had watched videos of atrocities carried out by ISIS while sources said some of the material was 'extremely disturbing'.

France remains on high alert more than a month after ISIS terrorists went on the rampage around Paris, carrying out a gun massacre in the Bataclan theatre, shooting revellers in bars and restaurants and targeting the Stade de France with suicide bombers.

Read more: Radical Islamic convert in France bought a fake pregnancy belly 'to hide explosives' | Daily Mail Online