Belgian woman charged over Paris Bank of America plot

A 23-year-old Belgian woman was charged in France on Friday over an alleged role in a foiled March 28 bomb attack on a Bank of America branch in Paris, France's anti-terrorist prosecution office said.

The office, known as PNAT, said she was handed over by Belgian authorities under a European arrest warrant. It said she is one of six people charged over the attempted attack, with five being held in detention pending further legal proceedings.

Police stopped and arrested four people on March 28 as they were about to set off an explosive device outside the US bank building, officials said.

PNAT said the woman was charged with associating with “terrorist criminals” aiming to set off explosive or incendiary devices likely to cause deaths, and with possessing and transporting explosive substances “in relation with a terrorist operation”.

The office said another Belgian woman was charged on July 31 and placed in pre-trial detention in the same case.

The woman's lawyer, Werner-Edouard de Saeger van Nattenhaesdonck, said his client was innocent and would appeal. He said she had been “caught up in an activity in which she had no responsibility”.

PNAT said at the time of the foiled attack that the incident could be linked to a little-known Islamist group with possible links to Iran, Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya, or HAYI, though no firm link had been established.

The attempted attack caused concern among other US banks with offices in Paris. Citigroup and Goldman Sachs told staff they could work from home, while French police increased security around their buildings.

PNAT said at the time that teenagers might have been recruited to plant the explosive device outside the Bank of America branch for payment of 500 to 1,000 euros, or $580 to $1,160.

Police had been informed a week earlier of a HAYI propaganda video on social media targeting the Bank of America building. HAYI has claimed responsibility for attacks targeting Jewish communities in Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands.