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Global

Swiss investigate 33 cases of suspected Islamism - paper


    ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland is looking into 33 criminal cases tied to Islamist terror, its attorney general was quoted as saying in a newspaper interview on Sunday.

    The attorney general, Michael Lauber, gave no details and did not specify any particular threat.

    "The office of the attorney general is currently investigating 33 criminal cases linked to Islamist terror," Lauber told the Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag.

    "We are mainly investigating whether there has been any support to a criminal organisation, but also whether the so-called anti-Islamic State law has been infringed," he said.

    He did not mention any potential connection to the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris.

    A report by a Swiss task force published earlier this month mentioned criminal investigations in about two dozen cases.

    In 2014, Switzerland passed a law banning Islamist groups such as al Qaeda and Islamic State.

    (Reporting by Silke Koltrowitz; Editing by Stephen Powell)