PARIS: Prosecutors on Wednesday charged two men with ‘associating with terrorists’ for their alleged ties with French extremist Rachid Kassim. The men – aged 30 and 39 – were arrested last Friday in the eastern towns of Dole and Roanne – the hometown of Kassim, seen as one of the most dangerous French-speaking propagandists for the Islamic State group. They allegedly associated with Kassim before he left for Iraq or Syria in May 2015. The 29-year-old Kassim is suspected of using the encrypted Telegram app to direct attacks on France from IS-controlled territory in Iraq or Syria. A source close to the probe said the 30-year-old – who was charged – is suspected of having been in touch with Kassim recently via Telegram. The source says that investigators are trying to determine whether the suspects played a role in the radicalisation of Kassim – who has appeared in several IS propaganda videos. He is also suspected of ordering or inciting the killing of a police couple in their home west of Paris in June as well as the murder of an elderly priest in a Normandy church in July. He is believed to have been a key influence on three teenagers arrested around Paris earlier this month. Kassim was also in contact with an all-female gang of radicals – arrested on September 8 – who have been charged with planning another attack after an apparent failed attempt to blow up a car packed with gas cylinders near Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral.