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Paris attacks: EU in emergency talks on border crackdown
Killing of Abdelhamid Abaaoud increases pressure to tighten
checks as France pushes for UN declaration of war on Isis
EU ministers are to hold emergency talks on Friday on tightening border checks
after the killing of the alleged ringleader of the Paris attacks in an apartment
in the French capital put European leaders under intense pressure to get a grip
on Europe’s external and internal borders.
Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected ringleader of the attacks in the name of
Islamic State, which left 129 people dead, died in Wednesday’s assault by police
on an apartment in northern Paris.
The 28-year-old was initially thought to have been in Syria – where he had
boasted of planning attacks on the west – and his presence in France has raised
questions about how one of Europe’s most wanted men could travel freely around
the continent.
The French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said Abaaoud had played a
“decisive role” in the Paris attacks and was suspected of involvement in four of
the six terror plots that French intelligence services had foiled so far in
2015.
But, Cazeneuve pointed out, he was the subject of both a European and an
international arrest warrant – and no EU intelligence service had alerted France
that he was on European soil.
The French prime minister, Manuel Valls, said some of the killers had taken
advantage of Europe’s migrant crisis to “slip in” unnoticed.
The mutilated body of Abaaoud, linked with half a dozen terrorist plots across
Europe, was found in the rubble of the badly damaged apartment in St-Denis and
identified from skin samples.
Cazeneuve said it was “urgent that Europe wakes up, organises itself and defends
itself against the terrorist threat”.
EU interior and justice ministers are to meet in Brussels where they will
discuss tightening checks on all travellers at the external borders of the
26-nation Schengen zone as an emergency measure.
Cazeneuve called on his fellow ministers to agree on a Europe-wide passenger
information register, improved controls along Europe’s external borders, and
better coordination against arms-trafficking.
“France has been calling for these measures for more than 18 months, and some
progress has been made,” he said. “But it is not fast enough, and it does not go
far enough ... Everyone must understand Europe has to organise, recover, defend
itself against the terrorist threat.”
The ministers are set to unveil a battery of mainly electronic measures aimed at
combating terror and improving controls. They including tightening checks on all
travellers at the external borders of the 26-nation Schengen zone as an
emergency measure.
Many have been mooted before, particularly after the Charlie Hebdo attack in
Paris in January, but not implemented. “But because of Paris, it’s the best
chance to push them through because that will vanish in a few weeks,” a senior
EU diplomat admitted.
The head of Europol, the EU police agency, on Thursday revealed much higher
figures for suspected and potential “foreign fighters” on its watchlists than
previously believed.
Separately, France is to push for what is in effect a declaration of war against
Isis at the United Nations security council with a resolution calling on members
to “take all necessary measures” to defeat the terror group in the wake of the
Paris attacks.
French officials at the UN have circulated a draft declaration calling on
countries to “redouble and co-ordinate their efforts” against Isis. It is
understood the resolution has been worded to encourage unity so it can be
swiftly pushed forward.
Britain, which holds the council presidency, said it would enable a vote to go
ahead as soon as France is ready.
The French ambassador, Francois Delattre, said on Thursday: “The exceptional and
unprecedented threat posed by this group to the entire international community
requires a strong, united and unambiguous response from the security council.
“This is the goal of our draft resolution, which calls on all member states to
take all necessary measures to fight Daesh [Isis].”
French officials were said to be hopeful of success because Isis has attacked
and killed nationals of Russia and China – which hold a security council veto,
and regularly use it to block resolutions that suggest intervention across
sovereign borders.