Nine of them will be held in custody during the inquiry, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins told a news conference, adding that the suspects had at one time discussed the possibility of kidnapping a judge in the city of Lyon.
Those under inquiry were among 19 arrested in swoops across several cities on March 30, a week after police killed Mohamed Merah, an al Qaeda-inspired gunman who shot dead seven people, including three Jewish children, in three separate attacks.
The killings turned internal security into a bigger campaign issue ahead of the April 22 opening round of a vote in which President Nicolas Sarkozy is seeking a second term but trails in the opinion polls behind Socialist rival Francois Hollande. Read More
