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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hZ5OJmL4KRPWdCn4T5qK9kw2M3NgD9IBT0UO2

PARIS — France is on alert for possible terrorism after intelligence suggested that attackers might target a public gathering place, with one lead pointing to a female suicide bomber, a counterterrorism official said Monday.

The official told The Associated Press that authorities had been bracing for a possible attack last Thursday. Nothing unusual happened that day in France, but authorities are not letting their guard down, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of office policy.

The scare came as five French workers and two African colleagues were kidnapped in Niger, part of the African turf of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb. On Sept. 14, there was a false bomb alert at the Eiffel Tower.

Last week, the Senate voted to ban burqa-style Islamic veils in France, a subject that has prompted warnings by al-Qaida's Maghreb group.

Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said Monday that "the terrorist threat is real, and today our vigilance, therefore, is reinforced." Speaking during a visit to the Seine-et-Marne region east of Paris, he did not elaborate on the additional security measures taken.

Despite the warnings, Hortefeux said France has not raised its terror alert level to scarlet, the highest ranking. It remains at red, the second-highest on the four-level scale.

Armed guards have been assigned to the rector of the Grande Mosque of Paris, the prominent moderate Dalil Boubakeur, since Friday, because of a new threat, according to the mosque spokesman.

The three guards are with him "morning, noon and evening," spokesman Slimane Nadour said Monday by telephone, adding: "We have no information on the nature of the threat."

Similar armed protection was given to Boubakeur, who is of Algerian origin, in 1997 when death threats were issued, Nadour said. Those threats came in the form of fatwas, or Islamic judicial opinions, when Algeria was engulfed in a brutal Islamist insurgency that continues sporadically today.

It was not immediately clear whether other figures in France were recently given special protection.

The counterterrorism official reached by the AP confirmed a report on RTL radio that said authorities had received information about a possible suicide bombing by a woman. The official declined to give other details.

RTL radio said the alert came from French and North African sources. It said the information was deemed so credible that Hortefeux canceled a two-day visit outside Paris, and security agents searched the city's transport system throughout the day but came up empty-handed.

That same day, however, Hortefeux held a news conference under the Eiffel Tower to announce that France faced an elevated risk of terrorism.

"An array of clues dating from the last few days and even the last few hours show the terrorist threat is at an elevated level," Hortefeux said at the time. "It is a real threat."

An official with the RATP, Paris' public transit system, said there were "no specific threats" against the French capital's bus and rail network and added "we are not doing any more, or any less than usual" in terms of security. The official declined to provide his name in accordance with RATP policy. The national railway operator SNCF had no comment on the matter.

The Interior Ministry would not comment Monday on the radio report.

French authorities were alerted to threats by Islamist radicals in notes last week by intelligence agents that evoke an "anti-French focus" by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, the daily Le Monde reported on Monday.

Le Monde quoted one note as saying the threats against France have intensified in recent weeks. It said the notes were written days before the kidnapping last Thursday of seven people working at a huge uranium mine in Niger run by France's state-owned nuclear power giant Areva.

French authorities suspect the kidnappings were the work of al-Qaida's North African branch.

 

[goomba]

 

[antonz]

As much as France is on the brink of turmoil when it comes to Muslim immigrants etc hopefully for the sake of sanity nothing happens.

Something big happens and you can all but bet Gypsys wont be the only people being forcibly removed from France.

 

[mAcOdIn]

Their terror alert color scale goes from Red to Scarlet? That's very, umm, French of them. I dunno, seems like the two colors are too similar for that to be a good idea.

 

[Instigator]

As much as France is on the brink of turmoil when it comes to Muslim immigrants etc hopefully for the sake of sanity nothing happens.

Something big happens and you can all but bet Gypsys wont be the only people being forcibly removed from France.

Yeah, but it'd be hard to pin terrorism on the Romas, even for the Right.

 

[SmokyDave]

A successful terrorist attack on a European city would have dire ramifications for both sides in our current political climate. Fingers crossed, it won't happen.

 

[Bleepey]

A successful terrorist attack on a European city would have dire ramifications for both sides in our current political climate. Fingers crossed, it won't happen.

Dude, London and Spain (oh and i know only one of those was from muslims ).

 

[mAcOdIn]

Dude, London and Spain (oh and i know only one of those was from muslims ).

He's saying the climate is a little different now than a few years ago. It looks that way to me, an outsider from America just watching the news but maybe it isn't any different, I dunno.

 

[UnluckyKate]

I'm going back to Paris saturday.
Please, may this attack happen the same day so my flight can be cancelled

 

[xbhaskarx]

Please, may this attack happen the same day so my flight can be cancelled

WTF, you don't want to take a flight... so you're rooting for a terrorist attack?
That's just about the most selfish comment I've ever read in my life :lol

 

[Karma Kramer]

I'm going back to Paris saturday.
Please, may this attack happen the same day so my flight can be cancelled

WTF

 

[xbhaskarx]

"I hope China starts a nuclear war tomorrow so they would cancel the math test I didn't study for."

 

[Karma Kramer]

"I hope China starts a nuclear war tomorrow so they would cancel the math test I didn't study for."

:lol :lol :lol

 

[UnluckyKate]

WTF, you don't want to take a flight... so you're rooting for a terrorist attack?
That's just about the most selfish comment I've ever read in my life :lol

Naaah, not that way. Just make a terrorist attack, but let the great ministy of interior show their supermacy: they got real intel so they'll find and defuse the bomb in an awesome mediatic venue in front of thousand journalists. No casualties, but plane delayed just for a couple of hours.

(seriously, a terrorist attack on Paris ? Meh...)

 

[Alx]

A successful terrorist attack on a European city would have dire ramifications for both sides in our current political climate. Fingers crossed, it won't happen.

What Bleepey said. And there's been quite a few isolated terrorist attack in France and especially in Paris in the last decades (nothing as major as London and Madrid, though). It's been quiet for the last few years, but it probably won't disappear forever.

 

[Mistouze]

Brice Hortefeux saying there's a higher risk of a terrorist attack? Hate to be the cynical in this kind of situation but it seems a wee bit too convenient seeing the political climate at the moment.

"STFU about us deporting roms and raping your retirement plans, the terrorist are at our doors!"

 

[Acidote]

Dude, London and Spain (oh and i know only one of those was from muslims ).

Wasn't London's a muslim integrist terrorist attack too?

 

[SmokyDave]

What Bleepey said. And there's been quite a few isolated terrorist attack in France and especially in Paris in the last decades (nothing as major as London and Madrid, though). It's been quiet for the last few years, but it probably won't disappear forever.

The last time that there was a sizeable, successful terrorist attack (in Europe) was 2005. Since then the far-right has gained more momentum all across Europe and the first anti-islam, extremist groups (meaning extremist groups opposed to islam) have begun to emerge. I think there would be far more retaliatory attacks against muslims than ever before. These retaliatory attacks would probably inspire more attacks and the cycle rolls on. I might be wrong but I'd rather we don't have any terrorist attacks and then I don't have to find out.

Brice Hortefeux saying there's a higher risk of a terrorist attack? Hate to be the cynical in this kind of situation but it seems a wee bit too convenient seeing the political climate at the moment.

"STFU about us deporting roms and raping your retirement plans, the terrorist are at our doors!"

I too wondered if this was timed to deflect from the Roma issue.

 

[Keyser Soze]

I think all the good terrorists already blew themselves up, and now we are left we a pile of shitty terrorists who cannot get the job done anymore

WE WON. WOOOOOO!!

 

[UnluckyKate]

Brice Hortefeux saying there's a higher risk of a terrorist attack? Hate to be the cynical in this kind of situation but it seems a wee bit too convenient seeing the political climate at the moment.

"STFU about us deporting roms and raping your retirement plans, the terrorist are at our doors!"

That would be cherry on the cake, indeed.

 

[Prine]

Brice Hortefeux saying there's a higher risk of a terrorist attack? Hate to be the cynical in this kind of situation but it seems a wee bit too convenient seeing the political climate at the moment.

"STFU about us deporting roms and raping your retirement plans, the terrorist are at our doors!"

Thinking the same. Its a time old tactic.

 

[Septy]

Dude, London and Spain (oh and i know only one of those was from muslims ).

Both were.

 

[Bleepey]

Both were.

I thought the Madrid bombings were basque seperatists or something.

 

[Enosh]

I thought the Madrid bombings were basque seperatists or something.

no

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrid_bombings

 

[water_wendi]

I thought the Madrid bombings were basque seperatists or something.

It was Islamic terror but no direct link to Al-Qaeda was established.

edit: beaten trying to remember how to spell al-qaeda lol

 

[fortified_concept]

Oh hey fearmongering, how's things? I'm fine, thanks. I hear you came to save Sarkozy the bourgeois prick and his disastrous fascist government by distracting the French people from his horrible and disgusting decisions.

 

[SmokyDave]

Oh hey fearmongering, how's things? I'm fine, thanks. I hear you came to save Sarkozy the bourgeois prick and his disastrous fascist government by distracting the French people from his horrible and disgusting decisions.

I'm not sure it's to distract the French (aren't the majority in favour of the measures to repatriate the Roma?). Distract the rest of Europe, particularly Germany, maybe.

Of course, this is assuming that this is pure fearmongering and that intelligence agencies aren't raising the alert legitimately.

 

[Cyport]

Is it the event?

 

[itxaka]

I thought the Madrid bombings were basque seperatists or something.

That was the goverment trying to unlink Spain going into the war with the attacks.

Edit: Oh god, I'm flying to Paris on thursday :_( Bad fucking timing.

 

[G.O.O.]

(aren't the majority in favour of the measures to repatriate the Roma?)

Not really. In fact, it depends on the poll you choose to read.

About the terrorist threat... well, since Hortefeux is a huge fucking liar in trouble, I feel quite safe atm.

 

[Shito]

It also smells awfully fishy to me: I don't believe one bit about these "possible attacks", seeing as how it seems to happen at juuuuuuuuust the right time to act as a smoke bomb for the government.

I'm not sure it's to distract the French (aren't the majority in favour of the measures to repatriate the Roma?)

Well, there's also this protest against the new retirement plan growing up from the streets, and with strikes days beginning to pile up I'm sure Sarkozy and peers could use a good distraction.

 

[Amir0x]

well duh this was gonna happen

 

[itxaka]

It also smells awfully fishy to me: I don't believe one bit about these "possible attacks", seeing as how it seems to happen at juuuuuuuuust the right time to act as a smoke bomb for the government.


Well, there's also this protest against the new retirement plan growing up from the streets, and with strikes days beginning to pile up I'm sure Sarkozy and peers could use a good distraction.

Oooh the strike on the 29th isn't it? Great, I am gonna lose my plane back home or get blowed up. I love France.

 

[Sirolf]

Oooh the strike on the 29th isn't it? Great, I am gonna lose my plane back home or get blowed up. I love France.

itxaka
Defeatist

 

[Juicy Bob]

Whenever anything like this happens, part of me thinks 'oh, they're just saying that'. I don't think the French people are likely to fall for any bogus terror alerts, though. I suppose that by announcing the alert like this, the likelihood of anything happening instantly drops. So whether there really is anything to be concerned about or not, it's probably all under control by now anyway.

 

[orioto]

Yeah, perfect smoke cloud, and this time it works !
Medias were really hard to convince with the roms and everyone clearly saw the dangerous populist maneuver. The whole idea is to put the light on foreigners to gain some extreme right votes.

The terrorism alert is actually exactly the same, but this time, it works and everyone buys it:lol

 

[Shito]

Oooh the strike on the 29th isn't it? Great, I am gonna lose my plane back home or get blowed up. I love France.

Was talking about the one coming this Thursday, on the 23rd: is there another one on the 29th as well? ^^
And yeah, a lot of us here also feel fed-up about all these strikes - at least this one is objectively there for a good reason, whether you agree with the reforms or not.

 

[BaronLundi]

What is particularly fishy is that the government usually don't publicize any terrorist threats until they're behind us. You usually hear about those stuff way after they were supposed to happen (and usually in a self-congratulating speech about how efficient our intelligence was...).

Furthermore, our government is sure in dire needs of some serious diversion (retirements strikes, the Roma disaster, clash with the EU etc.) and going public with those statements seems to go against all normal procedures : why warn those who would intend to commit acts of terrorism that we are privy to some intel and why risk causing a panic (talking about a female suicide bombers targeting public transports seems like a really good way...) ??

Icing on the cake is that the government didn't go through the motions like it usually does in such events, like meeting up with all political parties and MP's...

Still, we've basically been on constant alert since 1995 and threats are very real. I don't know what to think but don't really enjoy taking the most used and touristic metro line at peak hours either. Nor witnessing old ladies leaving the bus in a hurry when someone a bit too tanned enters...

(aren't the majority in favour of the measures to repatriate the Roma?).

Those internet based polls are soooo made specifically to obtain predetermined results... Next logical step would be something like this :

What would you prefer :
1. Have all Roma communities expelled from France ?
2. Have big men come unexpectedly to your home in the early hours of the morning to anally rape your wife and daughter ?

 

[Kurtofan]

Yeah, perfect smoke cloud, and this time it works !
Medias were really hard to convince with the roms and everyone clearly saw the dangerous populist maneuver. The whole idea is to put the light on foreigners to gain some extreme right votes.

The terrorism alert is actually exactly the same, but this time, it works and everyone buys it:lol

Don't you get it we're all gonna die there's no time to care about human rights and retirement rights!!!11

 

[G.O.O.]

Was talking about the one coming this Thursday, on the 23rd: is there another one on the 29th as well? ^^

I don't think so.

 

[Acidote]

The strike on the 29th is in Spain.

 

[itxaka]

Was talking about the one coming this Thursday, on the 23rd: is there another one on the 29th as well? ^^
And yeah, a lot of us here also feel fed-up about all these strikes - at least this one is objectively there for a good reason, whether you agree with the reforms or not.

The strike on the 29th is in Spain.

Yep, was mixing them for an unknow reason. I fly the 23th so I will get fucked anyway. Well, at least that hours will count as work hours