Tuesday, 31 January 2017
Tuesday, 17 November 2015
Most wanted: New photo of Paris attack suspect Salah Abdeslam is one of three brothers linked to atrocities in which 129 people died
A NEW photo of the key suspect being hunted in connection with the Paris massacre has been released by cops.
Salah Abdeslam, 26, is a Belgian citizen and one of three brothers linked with the atrocities carried out last Friday night that left 129 people dead.
One brother, Ibrahim Abdeslam, is thought to be one of the suicide bombers who blew himself up while another, Mohamed Abdeslam, has been arrested and was quizzed by authorities.
Salah is described as a dangerous individual who should not be approached and stands around 5ft 9ins tall and has brown eyes.
The manhunt came about after it was revealed Salah had not been arrested after an armed raid in the Brussels district of Molenbeek.
More than a hundred raids have been carried out on the European mainland in the wake of the attack in the French capital.
German stadium evacuated
THE football stadium in Hanover hosting the Germany-Netherlands game has been evacuated.
A stadium announcement has cancelled the game.
Police have blocked the road outside the ground after a suspicious suitcase was discovered.
Kreiszeitung. de reports security forces have discovered an ambulance housing explosives and threat warning has now been extended to the whole of Hanover as there is apparently a 'concrete situation'.
Hanover chief of police: 'There was a device intended to be detonated inside the stadium', as reported by Bild.
The TUI music arena in Hanover has also been evacuated by police, following reports by DPA, citing police chief Volker Kluwe.
A press conference is currently underway in Germany, as information continues to change.
A reporter on CNN says another suspicious device was found in railway station in Hanover. This is yet to be confirmed.
Breaking: No explosives have been found inside Hanover stadium, says German Interior Minister after bomb threat led to evacuation.
France calls for EU support for global campaign against ISIL
France made an unprecedented demand on Tuesday for its European Union allies to support its military action against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as it launched new airstrikes on the group's Syrian stronghold, days after attacks in Paris linked to the group killed at least 129 people.
France invoked a never-before-used article of the EU's Lisbon Treaty obliging members of the 28-nation bloc to give “aid and assistance by all the means in their power“ to a member country that is “the victim of armed aggression on its territory.”
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said EU partners could help “either by taking part in France's operations in Syria or Iraq, or by easing the load or providing support for France in other operations.”
Arriving for talks in Brussels on Tuesday with his EU counterparts, Greek Defense Minister Panagiotis Kammenos told reporters that “we're in a new situation in Europe. This is Sept. 11 for Europe.”
French military spokesman Col. Gilles Jaron said the latest airstrikes in ISIL's de-facto capital of Raqqa destroyed a command post and training camp.
A media activist in Raqqa, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that French air strikes had targeted abandoned ISIL bases in the suburbs of the city, where there are no civilians or ISIL fighters.
“It has been two insane nights. Abandoned ISIL posts were targeted at the entrance of the city, along with ISIL checkpoints and several other points. Electricity and water have been cut off as supply lines were hit too,” the activist said. “We can confirm that there were no civilians killed or injured in the latest French air strikes.”
On Monday, President Francois Hollande vowed to forge a united coalition capable of defeating the armed group at home and abroad. The Paris attacks on Friday, claimed by ISIL, have galvanized international determination to confront the group.
Hollande has said the victims came from at least 19 nations, and the international community, led by the U.S. and Russia, must overcome their deep-seated divisions over Syria to destroy ISIL on its home turf.
Authorities have yet to announce the capture of anyone suspected of direct involvement in the slaughter, though police have used emergency powers to conduct almost 300 searches since Sunday night that netted 127 arrests and 31 weapons.
A car with Belgian license plates and a shattered front passenger window found Tuesday in northern Paris could be linked to the attacks, officials said. It was the third vehicle identified as having possible links to the investigation.
Seven attackers died — six after detonating suicide belts and a seventh from police gunfire — but Iraqi intelligence officials told The Associated Press that its sources indicated 19 participated in the attack and five others provided hands-on logistical support.
In Belgium, a lawyer for one of the two people arrested there said his client admits going to France, but only to pick up a friend. Defense lawyer Xavier Carrette told the AP that his client, 27-year-old Mohammed Amri, was arrested over the weekend and is being held on charges of terrorist acts and being part of a terrorist conspiracy.
A cease-fire between Syria's government and opposition — which would allow nations supporting Syria's various factions to focus more on ISIL — could be just weeks away, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said. He described it as potentially a “gigantic step,” opening the way for deeper international cooperation.
Kerry flew to France as a gesture of solidarity and met Hollande and Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Tuesday.
Standing with Hollande at the Elysee Palace, Kerry said the carnage in the French capital on Friday, along with recent attacks in Egypt, Lebanon and Turkey, made it clear that more pressure must be brought to bear on ISIL.
Kerry said, “we have to step up our efforts to hit them at the core where they're planning these things and also obviously to do more on borders in terms the movement of people.”
Hollande said the “acts of war” were decided and planned in Syria, which he said was “the biggest factory of terrorism the world has ever known and the international community is still too divided and too incoherent.”
The attacks “were organized in Belgium and perpetrated on our soil with French complicity with one specific goal: to sow fear and to divide us,” Hollande told parliament in a rare joint session convened at the Palace of Versailles.
French and other Western intelligence agencies face an urgent challenge to track down the surviving members of the three ISIL units who inflicted the unprecedented bloodshed in France and, perhaps more importantly, to target their distant commanders in ISIL-controlled parts of Syria.
A French security official said intelligence officials had identified Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian of Moroccan descent, as chief architect of the attacks on a rock concert, a soccer game and popular nightspots in one of Paris' trendiest districts.
The official cited chatter from ISIL figures that Abaaoud had recommended a concert as an ideal target for inflicting maximum casualties, as well as electronic communications between Abaaoud and one of the Paris attackers who blew himself up.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive investigation.
Abaaoud came to public attention last year by boasting in an ISIL propaganda video about his pride in piling the dead bodies of “infidel” enemies into a trailer. Security agencies previously linked him to a series of abortive shooting plots this year in Belgium and France, including a planned attack on a passenger train that was thwarted by American passengers who overpowered the lone gunman.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Tuesday that police carried out 128 police raids overnight, as he conceded that “the majority of those who were involved in this attack were unknown to our services.” German police also said three people have been arrested near the western city of Aachen in connection to the Paris attacks.
Paris attack victims: Father-of-one died when he took a bullet for his girlfriend
Yannick Minvielle was shot dead when he jumped in front of his girlfriend as one of the Bataclan terrorists prepared to shoot her
Halima Saadi, left, and Houda Saadi, right, were celebrating a birthday in a Paris cafe when they were attacked. Ludovic Boumbas, centre, tried to save them, but all three eventually died
Desperate loved-ones hoping for news of the missing after the Paris attacks took their search to the world through social media.
A special stream of messages on Twitter, all grouped under the tag “#rechercheParis” - meaning “search Paris”, has taken the place of an official list of the missing.
In the hours after the attacks it swelled with names and pictures of brothers, sisters, girlfriends and boyfriends, not seen since heading off for a night out in Paris. Most are the faces of students and young professionals, from France and other countries across the world. The youngest listed was a girl of just 17.
In a few cases the messages are followed up with relieved updates or, for some, news that that they were injured but alive.
But for many there was no news at all.
French President Francois Hollande said on Monday in a special joint session of parliament at the Palace of Versailles, that the Paris attacks targeted "youth in all its diversity".
Mr Hollande said that the attackers targeted "the France that likes life, culture, sports, parties" and added the victims were of 19 different nationalities.
Among the confirmed dead:
Yannick Minvielle, 39, from Chalon-sur-Saone, France
Yannick Minvielle from Chalon-sur-Saone, France, was killed at the Bataclan
Yannick Minvielle was killed at the Bataclan on Friday night.
Described as a hero father-of-one, he was shot dead when he jumped in front of his girlfriend as one of the Bataclan terrorists prepared to shoot her.
Friends of Yannick told the Evening Standard how he sacrificed his own life to save his partner.
A friend of the couple, Maud Lavissiere said through tears: "He was trying to protect her, he stood in front of her and then all of a sudden he was dead. A bullet went straight through his head.
"His girlfriend is in a bad way. She's traumatised. She lives because of him. It's something that will haunt her forever."
Houda Saadi, 33, and Halima Saadi, 34, from Tunisia
Paris victim Halima Saadi
The two young Tunisian sisters who lived in the French region of Creusot were killed while celebrating a friend's birthday in Paris, according to the Tunisian foreign ministry.
Paris victim Houda Saadi
Halima reportedly died at the scene, while Houda died later of her injuries.
Le Parisien has reported that their friend Ludovic Boumbas (below) died trying to save their lives.
Ludovic Boumbas, from France
Hailed as a hero of the Paris massacre, Ludovic (known as Ludo) died after throwing himself in front of a bullet, saving Chloe Clement who is recovering in hospital.
Ludo reportedly launched himself at the crazed fanatic gunman in a hail of bullets. He was one of 11 friends at a birthday celebration who died.
Today, his friends paid tribute to Ludo's selfless bravery and called him 'a hero'.
Paris victim Ludovic Boumbas
An unnamed friend told Le Parisien: 'Ludo threw himself forward to protect a girl and took the bullet. She was also shot, but she survived and is in hospital.
'He loved travelling the world and above all he loved people. He was just one of life's good, good people. He didn't stand a chance.'
Now recovering in hospital, Ms Clement is so affected by the attack that she simply lies in bed repeating Mr Boumbas’s name. She is so traumatized by the experience that she can hardly speak.
Virgile Grunberg, 27, the manager of Café des Anges, went to visit Chloe in hospital and reportedly said:
"She was on morphine and was in shock. She would barely speak.
"She felt guilty because Ludovic died for her. She just kept repeating his name again and again."
Paris attacks: Stade de France bomber Bilal Hadfi was 'unambitious loner who failed his exams'
Exclusive: Hadfi, suspected of detonating a suicide bomb at the Stade de France, wanted to be a lorry driver and failed his exams says teacher
Bilal Hadfi dreamed of being a lorry driver, was "not very religious" and did not have many friends, The Telegraph can reveal.
Hadfi, who is believed to have detonated a suicide bomb outside the Stade de France in Paris, failed his exams after studying at the Koninklijk Technisch school in Diest.
The school, situated 40 miles to the east of Brussels, is a highly regarded technology college in the affluent town of Diest.
She said: "He was studying IT, but he didn't like that kind of thing and he wanted to be a truck driver. At the end of the year he didn't pass his exams so the next year he went to a different school in Brussels.
"When he was with us he didn't have a lot of friends.
"We are so shocked by the news that he was involved in the terrorist attack. We never thought he would do something like that.
"It is a massive surprise for the teachers who knew him. He wasn't especially religious while he was at school with us.
"But I know he was having a hard time because his mother was in the hospital.
"He was a normal pupil and we had no problems with him and he was pretty calm."
Hadfi, known as the “baby-faced jihadi,” was one of two suicide bombers who attacked the Stade de France.
The 20-year-old French national, who lived in Neder-over-Heembeek, Belgium, had recently called for attacks on the “infidel dogs” of the West.He was raised in Belgium, briefly attending a secondary school in the region of Diest.
Until very recently, he was a typical teenager who was obsessed with football, regularly updating his Facebook profile with news and comments about his favourite teams.
Meanwhile, one of Hadfi's teachers at the Brussels school to which he transferred said she felt a sense of personal failure that one of her pupils could be capable of such an atrocity.
"Somehow I feel this is a personal failure, I could not get through to Bilal,"Sara Staccino told Belgium's VRT TV.
"He was a fine student, motivated, social and interested. But a year later everything changed. Bilal had a more than average interest in politics.
One of the pictures posted by Bellingcat.These images are believed to be from the Facebook page of one of the Paris attackers Bilal Hadfi
"His thoughts were getting more extreme. He would not listen to music anymore because it was 'haram'. It started with truancy.
"At one point he said that it was good that the terror group Boko Haram were taking over increasingly large areas of land. It disturbed me that he made such leaps.
"After the attack on Charlie Hebdo earlier this year, there was a tense atmosphere in the classroom. He thought what happened was right because the magazine had insulted his religion. I notified the school board but the school took a 'wait and see' attitude.
"After Charlie Hebdo there was a week of school left during which he told his classmates he was going to Syria.
"The system has failed. We've been too cautious for fear of stigmatising (Muslims)."
"
Friday 13th Paris attacks
Times quoted refer to GMT
20.20
Spectators gather on the pitch of the Stade de France stadium. Photo: AFP
the first explosion went off near the Stade de France, where president Francois Hollande was at a football match between France and Germany. One person was killed in the blast. The body of a terrorist was found at the scene wearing a suicide belt filled with shrapnel.
20.25
Service personnel working outside the restaurant. Photo: Reuters
Shortly after the first explosion at the Stade de France, gunmen with Kalashnikovs launched an attack at Le Carillon bar and Le Petit Cambodge restaurant on Rue Bichat, in the city's 10th arrondissement, killing 15 people and injuring 10.
20.30
The attackers drove about 500 yards to the Casa Nostra pizzeria in Rue de la Fontaine au Roi and opened fire on diners on the terrace of the restaurant, killing at least five people and injuring eight.
20.30
Another explosion went off outside the Stade de France when a second suicide bomber blew himself up.
20.35
Forensic police search for evidences outside the La Belle Equipe cafe. Photo: Getty Images
Militants launch an attack on La Belle Equipe in Rue de Charonne, spraying the terrace bar with bullets and killing 19 people in gunfire which witnesses say lasted ""two, three minutes"".
20.50
Wounded people are evacuated outside the Bataclan theatre. Photo: EPA
Three black-clad gunmen wielding AK-47s and wearing suicide vests stormed Le Bataclan during a concert by American rock band Eagles Of Death Metal. At least 89 were killed and more than 100 others injured during the shooting. The attackers were heard mentioning Syria and Iraq during the massacre.
20.53
A third suicide bomber blew himself up on Rue de la Coquerie, near the Stade de France.
21.00
A woman is evacuated outside the Bataclan. Photo: AP
The first reports came in of the Bataclan massacre and within 10 minutes there was confirmation that a hostage crisis had developed at the theatre.
21.57
Prime Minister David Cameron said on Twitter: “I am shocked by events in Paris tonight. Our thoughts and prayers are with the French people. We will do whatever we can to help.”
22.00
An emotional French president Francois Hollande, who was earlier evacuated from the Stade de France, closed the borders and declared a state of national emergency. The French military were called into the centre of Paris.
22.16
Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Twitter: “My thoughts are with the people of Paris tonight. We stand in solidarity with the French. Such acts are heinous and immoral.”
22.28
Police officers gather outside the Bataclan concert venue in Paris. Photo: EPA
French emergency services activate Plan Rouge to tackle the large numbers of casualties.
22.30
Wounded people are evacuated from the Stade de France. Photo: EPA
Parisians used the #PorteOuverte hashtag to search for or offer safe places for those fleeing the violence. The hashtag was soon trending.
22.43
A new toll of at least 35 dead.
22.46
President Obama delivered a speech at the White House, expressing solidarity with the people of Paris and calling the attacks terrorist acts. ""Those who think that they can terrorise the people of France or the values that they stand for are wrong.""We are reminded in this time of tragedy that the bonds of liberte, egalite, fraternite, are not just the values French people share, but we share.""Those go far beyond any act of terrorism or the hateful vision of those who perpetrated the crimes this evening.""
23.30
Reports emerge of French taxi drivers turning off their meters and offering passengers free rides home. A citywide curfew was put in place, the first since 1944.
23.30
People receive medical attention after being evacuated from the Bataclan theatre. Photo: AP
Police storm the Bataclan, ending the siege. Two terrorists die after activating their suicide vests and a third is shot dead by officers.
Midnight
The death toll reached at least 120.
Saturday, November 14
00.46
French soldiers patrol the area at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Photo: AFP
At least 1,500 soldiers have been called upon to patrol the streets of Paris.
03.30
Schools, markets, museums and major tourist sites in the Paris area are closed and sporting fixtures cancelled.
09.50
Hollande calls the attacks ""an act of war... committed by a terrorist army, the Islamic State, against France, against... what we are, a free country"". He declares three days of national mourning.
09.50
Isil claimed responsibility, saying in a statement issued in Arabic and French that the attackers had targeted ""the capital of abominations and perversions and those who carry the crusader banner in Europe"".
10.30
Passengers stand outside Gatwick airport after it was evacuated. Photo: @TimUnwin
Gatwick Airport north terminal was evacuated after a suspected firearm was discovered. A 41-year-old French national was taken into custody for questioning. He was later charged with possession of an air rifle and a knife.
11.00
David Cameron warned the UK ""must be prepared for a number of British casualties"", and condemned the ""brutal and callous murderers. The Queen also sent a message of condolence to Mr Hollande, saying she and the Duke of Edinburgh had been ""deeply shocked and saddened by the terrible loss of life in Paris"".
12.00
A victim is wheeled out of the Bataclan concert hall. Photo: REUTERS/Charles Platiau
By noon on Saturday French officials had put the provisional death toll at 127 people from the combined attacks, with 180 injured and 99 people in hospital in critical condition.
13.30
One of the bombers was identified by his fingerprints as a young Frenchman flagged for links with Islamic extremism. He is later named as Ismaël Omar Mostefaï, 29.
17.00
Belgian policemen search for suspects in Molenbeek area (Brussels). Photo: Isopix/REX Shutterstock
A number of people are arrested in Brussels in relation to the Paris attack. Belgian prosecutors later confirmed they have opened an anti-terrorist investigation based on a car that was hired in Belgium and was found near the Bataclan concert hall.
18.00
Nick Alexander from Colchester was working at Bataclan.
One Briton is confirmed to have died and ""a handful"" of others are feared to have been killed. The British victim was later named as Nick Alexander, who was selling band merchandise at the Bataclan.
18.23
People gather to lay floral tributes and candles outside La Belle Equipe restaurant. Photo: Reuters
Francois Molins, the Paris prosecutor, said 129 people were confirmed dead and 352 people were injured, with 99 in a critical condition.
Sunday, November 15
10.30
Theresa May
Home Secretary Theresa May indicated the British death toll in the Paris attacks may rise as she said the government has concerns about a ""handful"" of UK citizens. She said that British police and intelligence agencies were ""working day and night to keep people secure"".
France seeks global coalition in renewed fight against IS
French President François Hollande called on the United States and Russia on Monday to join a global coalition to destroy the Islamic State (IS) group following the attacks across Paris, announcing a wave of measures to combat terrorism in France.
“France is at war,” Hollande told a joint session of parliament at the Palace of Versailles, promising to increase funds for national security and strengthen anti-terrorism laws in response to the suicide bombings and shootings that killed 129.
“We’re not engaged in a war of civilisations, because these assassins do not represent any. We are in a war against jihadist terrorism which is threatening the whole world,” he told a packed, sombre chamber.
Parliamentarians gave Hollande a standing ovation before spontaneously singing the “Marseillaise” national anthem in a show of political unity after the worst atrocity France has seen since World War Two.
Here are the latest developments:
- US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Paris Monday evening ahead of planned talks with Hollande at the Elysée Palace. A State Department spokesman said Kerry will use his visit to reiterate a shared resolve to counter violent extremism in France and elsewhere.
- France observed a minute’s silence at noon on Monday in memory of the victims of the attacks, which killed 129 people and injured more than 350.
- Two people detained in Belgium on Saturday in the wake of the Paris attacks have been charged with terrorism according to the federal prosecutor’s office, which added that a major police operation in the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek had yielded no new evidence or arrests.
- The Paris prosecutor’s office named two more suspected suicide bombers who blew themselves up at the Bataclan concert hall and the national stadium during Friday’s attacks.
- France carried out massive air strikes Sunday night on IS targets in Raqqa, Syria.
- A search is under way for “the eighth man” in the Paris attacks. French police late on Sunday issued a public appeal for information on 26-year-old Belgian, Salah Abdeslam, in connection with the attacks.
- Schools, offices and museums reopened on Monday on the country’s third and final day of national mourning.
- French authorities have a number for people looking for missing loved ones: +33 (0) 800 40 60 05. There is also a special number for tourists: +33 (0)1 45 55 80 00. Information that can help police in the investigation into the attacks can be called in (from France) by dialling: 197.
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