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Manhunt Underway as Paris Investigation Widens Manhunt Underway as Paris Investigation Widens
(about 2 hours later)
PARIS — The investigation into the Paris terrorist attacks unfurled across Europe on Sunday as French authorities sought a suspected eighth assailant who might have fled after taking part in the three-hour assault on Friday night that killed at least 129 people. PARIS — The investigation into the Paris terrorist attacks unfurled across Europe on Sunday, as the authorities sought a man believed to be an eighth assailant who might have fled after taking part in the three-hour massacre, which killed at least 129 people.
A French official who was briefed on the investigation but was not authorized to speak publicly said the authorities were looking for someone from the Paris region who might have participated in the attacks. The authorities had initially said there were eight attackers, but on Saturday night said that only seven attackers had died — six by blowing themselves up and one in a shootout with the police. A French official who was briefed on the investigation but was not authorized to speak publicly said the authorities were looking for a man from the Paris region. Officials had initially described eight attackers, but on Saturday night said that only seven attackers had died — six by blowing themselves up and one in a shootout with police.
As President Obama and other leaders of the Group of 20 nations gathered for a scheduled summit meeting in Antalya, Turkey, on the doorstep of the Syrian crisis, France’s president, François Hollande, stayed behind in Paris, his nation in mourning, as the investigation continued. The carefully coordinated attacks on Friday night, which President François Hollande says are the work of the Islamic State, increasingly appear to have involved extensive planning, sophisticated weapons and people from several nations.
Early Sunday morning, three Kalashnikov rifles — the kind used in the attacks — were found in a black Seat Leon in the eastern Paris suburb of Montreuil. The vehicle had been used as a getaway car for the shooters at restaurants in central Paris. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, after meeting in Paris with his Belgian counterpart, Jan Jambon, said the attacks had “prepared abroad and had mobilized a team of participants located on the Belgian territory, and who may have benefited — the investigation will tell us more — from complicity in France.”
The Belgian authorities have detained seven men, one of whom one was linked to a rented Volkswagen Polo that the three terrorists who killed 89 people at the Bataclan concert hall had used. On Sunday the authorities said that two of the dead attackers had lived in the Brussels area. Crucial, if sparse, details about four of the attackers came into view on Sunday.
In France, investigators were hunting for more information on one of the gunmen at the concert hall, Ismaël Omar Mostefaï, 29, a French citizen who had been living in Chartres, 60 miles southwest of Paris. One attacker — nationality not yet known — evidently posed as a Syrian migrant. The Serbian newspaper Blic published a photograph of a passport page that identified its holder as Ahmad al-Mohammad, 25, a native of Idlib, Syria. He passed through the Greek island of Leros on Oct. 3 and the Serbian border town of Presevo on Oct. 7, officials in those countries said. It was not clear whether the passport was authentic; the civil war that has sent millions of Syrians fleeing and fueled the rise of the Islamic State has also created a large black market for forged Syrian passports.
Reports from Serbia on Sunday said the authorities there had identified the holder of a Syrian passport found near one of the attackers in Paris. Responding to requests from French officials, Greece and Serbia confirmed that the holder of the passport had passed through their countries last month along with tens of thousands of migrants fleeing Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. At least three other attackers were French citizens. Two had been living in the Brussels area, including one in the community of Molenbeek, according to the Belgian authorities. The third was Ismaël Omar Mostefaï, 29, a native of Courcouronnes, France, who had been living in Chartres, 60 miles southwest of Paris, and who, along with two other gunmen, killed 89 people at the Bataclan concert hall.
The Serbian newspaper Blic published a photograph of a passport page that identified its holder as Ahmad al-Mohammad, 25, a native of Idlib, Syria. Serbian officials said he had been registered at the town of Presevo, on the border with Macedonia, on Oct. 7 as part of the migrant flow. Greek officials have confirmed that the same man passed through the island of Leros on Oct. 3. Mr. Mostefaï was the middle of five children born to an Algerian father and a Portuguese mother, and he once worked at a bakery, according to a former neighbor at the housing development just outside Chartres where the family used to live.
It was not clear, however, if the passport was authentic; there is an active black market for forged Syrian passports. “It was a normal family, just like everybody else,” said the neighbor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “He played with my children. He never spoke about religion. He was normal. He had a joie de vivre. He laughed a lot.”
For reasons that are unclear, Mr. Mostefaï changed. “It was in 2010, that’s when he started to become radicalized,” the neighbor said. “We don’t understand what happened.”
As the authorities continued to examine Mr. Mostefaï’s motivations and background, other clues emerged from official accounts in France and Belgium.
Two vehicles used in the attacks had been rented in Belgium early last week, the federal prosecutor for Brussels announced on Sunday. One of them, a gray Volkswagen Polo, was abandoned near the Bataclan after being used by the three terrorists who died there.
The other, a black Seat Leon, was found early Sunday morning in the eastern Paris suburb of Montreuil. Three Kalashnikov rifles were found inside it. The vehicle may have been used as a getaway car for the shooters at restaurants in central Paris.
The Belgian authorities also announced that they had detained seven men. Three of them passed through a roadside check in Cambrai, France, at 9:10 a.m. Saturday, while on the A2 highway heading to Belgium. They made their way to Molenbeek, where the authorities detained them for unknown reasons and seized the car on Saturday afternoon.
Fundamental questions remained: how the terrorists, who acted in three synchronized teams, managed to pull off the deadliest terrorist attack in Western Europe since 2004, and whether they received direction from Islamic State leaders in Iraq and Syria, who until now had never taken responsibility for such a large-scale attack in the West.Fundamental questions remained: how the terrorists, who acted in three synchronized teams, managed to pull off the deadliest terrorist attack in Western Europe since 2004, and whether they received direction from Islamic State leaders in Iraq and Syria, who until now had never taken responsibility for such a large-scale attack in the West.
But the carefully coordinated attacks now appear increasingly likely to have drawn from people from several nations and to have involved extensive planning as well as sophisticated weapons. The revelation that at least one of the terrorists was a radicalized French citizen is sure to exacerbate long-standing fears in France about the place of Muslim immigrants and converts in French society, 10 months after a smaller set of deadly attacks on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, on a kosher grocery and against a police officer.
Mr. Mostefaï was publicly identified in a Facebook post by the mayor of Chartres, Jean-Pierre Gorges. Mr. Mostefaï was one of three hostage-takers at the Bataclan, and who was identified based on a print from his severed finger. Mr. Mostefaï was identified in a Facebook post by the mayor of Chartres, Jean-Pierre Gorges. He was one of three hostage-takers at the Bataclan, and who was identified based on a print from his severed finger.
Mr. Mostefaï was born in the town of Courcouronnes and grew up around Chartres, where he lived until 2012. According to the Paris prosecutor, François Molins, he was arrested in connection with a series of low-level crimes from 2004 to 2010 and had been under surveillance since 2010, having been listed in a French security services database of people who have fallen under the influence of extremist Islamist beliefs. Six of his relatives have been detained for questioning; on Sunday, other relatives told French television that he had been estranged from them after a falling-out. Mr. Mostefaï was born in the town of Courcouronnes and grew up around Chartres, where he lived until 2012. According to the Paris prosecutor, François Molins, he was arrested in connection with a series of low-level crimes from 2004 to 2010 and had been under surveillance since 2010, having been flagged in a French security services database as someone who have fallen under the influence of extremist Islamist beliefs. Six of his relatives have been detained for questioning; on Sunday, other relatives told French television that he had been estranged from them after a falling-out.
In his Facebook post, Mayor Gorges of Chartres expressed despair and frustration. “How many deaths will occur before our political leaders understand and take action?” he asked, describing the “emotion, incomprehension and anger” he felt at the deaths.In his Facebook post, Mayor Gorges of Chartres expressed despair and frustration. “How many deaths will occur before our political leaders understand and take action?” he asked, describing the “emotion, incomprehension and anger” he felt at the deaths.
Mayor Gorges called for strong action, without asking questions first. “Our leaders don’t need to prove they are legitimate: we have elected them so they take responsibility of the executive power of the republic,” he wrote on Facebook. “Their duty is to act effectively, and ultimately we don’t need to know how.”Mayor Gorges called for strong action, without asking questions first. “Our leaders don’t need to prove they are legitimate: we have elected them so they take responsibility of the executive power of the republic,” he wrote on Facebook. “Their duty is to act effectively, and ultimately we don’t need to know how.”
Mr. Mostefaï previously lived in a housing development just outside Chartres. “He lived here with his parents,” said a neighbor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “It was a normal family, just like everybody else.””
Mr. Mostefaï was the middle of five children born to an Algerian father and a Portuguese mother, and he worked in a bakery. “He played with my children,” the neighbor said. “He never spoke about religion. He was normal. He had a joie de vivre. He laughed a lot.”
But then Mr. Mostefaï changed. “It was in 2010, that’s when he started to become radicalized,” the neighbor said. “We don’t understand what happened.”
On Sunday, Mr. Hollande met his predecessor and political rival, Nicolas Sarkozy, at the Élysée Palace. Afterward, Mr. Sarkozy urged decisive action against the Islamic State — a position Mr. Hollande has also taken.On Sunday, Mr. Hollande met his predecessor and political rival, Nicolas Sarkozy, at the Élysée Palace. Afterward, Mr. Sarkozy urged decisive action against the Islamic State — a position Mr. Hollande has also taken.
“We need everybody in order to exterminate Daesh, and especially the Russians,” Mr. Sarkozy told reporters, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State.“We need everybody in order to exterminate Daesh, and especially the Russians,” Mr. Sarkozy told reporters, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State.
Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, is a steadfast ally of Syria’s embattled president, Bashar al-Assad, and recently began an aerial bombing campaign in Syria. The United States and France say the attacks have not been aimed at the Islamic State, as Mr. Putin claims, but at other groups opposing Mr. Assad.Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, is a steadfast ally of Syria’s embattled president, Bashar al-Assad, and recently began an aerial bombing campaign in Syria. The United States and France say the attacks have not been aimed at the Islamic State, as Mr. Putin claims, but at other groups opposing Mr. Assad.
Mr. Sarkozy, who has been known to be tough on immigrants during his tenure as president, cautioned against linking the refugee crisis with the terrorist attacks, but added: “We need, together, to rein in the wave of migration ensuing from the Syrian situation.”Mr. Sarkozy, who has been known to be tough on immigrants during his tenure as president, cautioned against linking the refugee crisis with the terrorist attacks, but added: “We need, together, to rein in the wave of migration ensuing from the Syrian situation.”
As President Obama and other leaders of the Group of 20 advanced and emerging economies gathered for a scheduled summit meeting in Antalya, Turkey, on the doorstep of the Syrian crisis, France’s president, François Hollande, stayed behind in Paris, his nation in mourning.
As the investigation proceeded, Mr. Obama told reporters in Turkey that the “skies have been darkened by the horrific attacks” in Paris and pledged that America would support France, its oldest ally. “We stand in solidarity with them in hunting down the perpetrators of this crime and bringing them to justice,” Mr. Obama said after meeting with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at the start of a 10-day trip that will also take him to the Philippines and Malaysia.As the investigation proceeded, Mr. Obama told reporters in Turkey that the “skies have been darkened by the horrific attacks” in Paris and pledged that America would support France, its oldest ally. “We stand in solidarity with them in hunting down the perpetrators of this crime and bringing them to justice,” Mr. Obama said after meeting with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at the start of a 10-day trip that will also take him to the Philippines and Malaysia.
At the same summit meeting, the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, said there was no need for a complete review of the bloc’s refugee policy in response to the terrorist attacks.At the same summit meeting, the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, said there was no need for a complete review of the bloc’s refugee policy in response to the terrorist attacks.
“Those who organized, who perpetrated the attacks are the very same people who the refugees are fleeing and not the opposite,” Agence-France Presse quoted Mr. Juncker as saying. “And so there is no need for an overall review of the European policy on refugees.”“Those who organized, who perpetrated the attacks are the very same people who the refugees are fleeing and not the opposite,” Agence-France Presse quoted Mr. Juncker as saying. “And so there is no need for an overall review of the European policy on refugees.”
Pope Francis on Sunday deplored the terrorist attacks in Paris, which he described as an inconceivable “barbarity” and an “unspeakable affront to human dignity” that “leaves us shocked” and must be condemned.Pope Francis on Sunday deplored the terrorist attacks in Paris, which he described as an inconceivable “barbarity” and an “unspeakable affront to human dignity” that “leaves us shocked” and must be condemned.
“The path of violence and hatred does not solve the problems of humanity, and using the name of God to justify this path is blasphemy,” Francis told thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his weekly Angelus address.“The path of violence and hatred does not solve the problems of humanity, and using the name of God to justify this path is blasphemy,” Francis told thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his weekly Angelus address.
“We wonder how the human heart can conceive and carry out such horrific events, which have shaken not only France but the whole world,” Francis said, before asking the faithful present to pray with him for the victims of the attacks.“We wonder how the human heart can conceive and carry out such horrific events, which have shaken not only France but the whole world,” Francis said, before asking the faithful present to pray with him for the victims of the attacks.
Security measures at St. Peter’s, already significant, were increased on Sunday. The Italian government on Saturday said it would bolster surveillance of potential terrorist targets.Security measures at St. Peter’s, already significant, were increased on Sunday. The Italian government on Saturday said it would bolster surveillance of potential terrorist targets.