A man shot dead by French police Saturday in a nation-wide crackdown on terror suspects that made 11 arrests was linked to an attack on a Jewish store last month, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said. The man killed in an exchange of fire in Strasbourg was "a delinquent who had converted to radical Islam" and his fingerprints were found on the remains of a grenade thrown into the kosher grocery store in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles, Molins told a press conference. Molins named him as Jeremy Sidney, 33, and said that he was of French nationality.
He said the sweep had uncovered a list of Jewish associations, adding that "the inquiry will determine what were the next targets of this cell". Strasbourg prosecutor Patrick Poirret for his part said Sidney was "very determined with probably the ambition to die a martyr, and had emptied the chamber" of his revolver at the police before being shot dead. Poirret said that when police entered Sidney's home, he was standing armed with a .357 magnum and fired at them, prompting them to return fire. Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said earlier the sweep in a number of French cities was aimed at "dismantling terrorist networks". Interior Minister Manual Valls meanwhile called off a visit to a police security fair in Qatar in order to keep a close eye on events, after talks with President Francois Hollande, his ministry said.
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