Islam Times - French teens charged on terror charges in France

Islam Times - Two French high school students who ran away to fight in Syria were charged by a special anti-terrorism judge Friday, a rare step for suspects who are minors.

The two Muslim boys, aged 15 and 16, were charged with criminal conspiracy in connection with a terrorist enterprise and placed under court supervision, which will include educational measures, said a judicial source.

The pair, who are from the southern city of Toulouse, flew to Turkey on January 6 and crossed the border into Syria, apparently planning to join the thousands of foreigners fighting President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

According to Interior Minister Manuel Valls, as many as 700 French nationals may have joined the fighting in Syria, with perhaps one-fifth of them converts to Islam. About a dozen are believed to be minors.

French officials fear these radicals could be a ticking time bomb whose eventual return to France will pose a major security challenge in the future.

Investigators spent two days interrogating the two Toulouse teens after they were flown home earlier this week.