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France On Terror Alert
Warning level Rouge as three plots foiled in build up to elections
The head of France's interior ministry terror unit says that three terrorist attacks have been scuppered by his department in the past 18 months. Targets are reported to have included the Paris Metro underground network and Orly, one of Paris' two major airports.
Christophe Chaboud told the International Herald Tribune that the plots - first uncovered in September 2005 - are thought to be linked to next Spring's presidential election. Security around prominent campaigners, including interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Party contender Ségolène Royal has been stepped up following the threats.
Senior security forces sources believe jihadi terrorists with experience of fighting western forces in Iraq have been involved in the plots. They follow an Algerian terror group which considers Paris its major target joining forces with international al-Qaeda elements who have declared war on "Crusaders" whether American, British or French. France's banning of the Islamic headscarf in schools is thought to have added to anti-French feeling among Islamists (a senior Iranian cleric also issued a fatwa against France when the ban came into law).
The terror group, Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), "pledged allegiance" to Osama bin Laden in 2003. Members are thought to be active in Spain, Italy and across North Africa, as well as France.
76 people have been arrested since June 2005 in connection with GSPC plots. Eleven were arrested in one sweep in September 2005 in connection with the two plots above and a further alleged planned attack on the headquarters of France's anti-terror unit.
French authorities do not say how many are still held, but none have been charged.
France has some of Europe's toughest anti-terror laws. Its chief anti-terror investigator Jean-Louis Bruguière, who has been leading the fight against Islamist activity in France, has spoken about his belief in how terrorists operate according to the pressure the authorities put them under - or lack of it:
"Fighting terrorism is like the weather. You have high pressure zones and low pressure zones."
Countries that have low pressure zones attract terrorism. France has drafted laws to deal with new crimes including "conspiracy in relation to terrorism" which would have Britain's human rights community throwing fits of outrage, but which pass relatively unnoticed within France's borders.
The Red Alert status comes shortly after 70+ workers had their security passes withdrawn at Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport. French politician Philippe de Villiers claimed in a book that Islamist terrorists had infiltrated the airport and were planning attacks.
