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Primary suspect, Youssouf Fofana
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners February 23, 2006 |
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| Police seal part of the cellar of the building where 23-year old Ilan Halimi was found naked, handcuffed and covered with burn marks last week in Bagneux, south of Paris. (AP) |
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Ivory Coast police have arrested a primary suspect in the brutal torture and slaying of a young Jewish man in France, the French premier said Thursday.
The man, identified as Youssouf Fofana, could be returned to France within hours, Dominique de Villepin said on Canal Plus TV, adding that French and Ivory Coast police cooperated in the arrest.
French President Jacques Chirac and his prime minister will attend a synagogue memorial ceremony Thursday for the young man, Ilan Halimi, a 23-year-old mobile phone salesman. He was kidnapped Jan. 21 and tortured in the southern Paris suburb of Bagneux.
Villepin will join Chirac at the ceremony at Paris' main synagogue.
Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said he will attend a march Sunday in Paris against racism and anti-Semitism. The opposition Socialists also called for people to join the march to protest "this odious crime."
French officials believe anti-Semitism played a role in the killing. Halimi was kidnapped after a meeting with a young woman. His family later received a series of ransom demands - starting with one for around US$537,000.
On Monday, French authorities found Halimi naked, handcuffed and covered with burn marks near railroad tracks south of Paris. He died on his way to a hospital.
About a dozen people have been arrested in the case.
AP contributed to this case.
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