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Turkey arrests French IS suspect after hair transplant

A French suspected fighter with the Islamic State (IS) armed group has been arrested in Turkey after having a hair transplant, local media reported Thursday. Police believe he was planning a terror attack on Turkish soil.

One of the housess used by IS members in Diyarbakir after Turkish police raided it
One of the housess used by IS members in Diyarbakir after Turkish police raided it RFI/Tony Cross
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The man, identified as Mehdibend Said, was picked up at dawn in the Aegean coast town of Izmir after intelligence agents followed him to a clinic where he had the hair transplant, police sources told Dogan news agency.

He told investigators that he had also hoped to have more cosmetic surgery to make him "look better".

Said had been under surveillance since entering Turkey from Syria and police believe he was plotting an attack on Turkish soil.

Turkish clinics do a thriving trade in hair transplants for residents of Gulf states..

Although the Turkish government's critics have accused it of complicity with IS, security forces have detained a number of suspected IS members since 102 people were killed in a suicide bombing of a peace rally in Ankara last month.

Last week police swooped on 20 suspects in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya, ahead of a summit of G20 group of nations leaders, including US President Barack Obama and Russia's Vladimir Putin.

In the week before the 1 November general election, two police officers and seven IS members were killed in a raid on two houses in the south-eastern city of Diyarbakir.

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