This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/21/world/europe/paris-attacks.html

The article has changed 9 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 4 Version 5
Third Body Is Found in Rubble of Police Raid Near Paris Third Body Is Found in Rubble of Police Raid Near Paris
(about 4 hours later)
PARIS — The French authorities said on Friday that they had discovered a third body in the wreckage of the police raid that killed Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the Belgian militant suspected of planning the Paris terror attacks. PARIS — The French authorities said on Friday that they had discovered a third body in the wreckage of an apartment after the police raid that killed Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the Belgian militant suspected of planning the Paris terror attacks.
Along with Mr. Abaaoud, a 26-year-old woman, Hasna Aitboulahcen, also died in the raid on Wednesday. Her passport was found in a handbag inside the apartment, said Agnès Thibault-Lecuivre, a spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor. The third person who died in the raid — the existence of the body was confirmed overnight — has not yet been identified, Ms. Thibault-Lecuivre said. Mr. Abaaoud’s cousin Hasna Aitboulahcen, 26, also died in the raid on Wednesday, on an apartment in the suburb of St.-Denis; her passport was found in a handbag inside. The third person who died in the raid has not yet been identified, said Agnès Thibault-Lecuivre, a spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor.
Also on Friday, a lawyer for Mr. Abaaoud’s father, Omar, said he had expressed dismay that his son had not been captured alive, because the family wanted to learn what had happened to a younger son who was lured to fight for the Islamic State. Officials have begun to cast doubt on their initial theory that Ms. Aitboulahcen detonated a suicide vest during the raid, suggesting on Friday that it was the third person in the apartment who did.
“I think he was waiting for the raid to end very badly,” the lawyer, Nathalie Gallant, told reporters in Brussels. Abdelhamid Abaaoud had persuaded a younger brother, Younes, to join him in Syria. The death toll from the attacks rose to 130 on Friday. President François Hollande announced that he would preside over a tribute to the victims on Nov. 27 at the Invalides, the former military hospital that houses the tomb of Napoleon — an honor that is typically bestowed on French soldiers who die overseas.
Mr. Hollande also received King Mohammed VI of Morocco at the Élysée Palace to thank him for the “efficient assistance” Morocco provided after the attacks. Mr. Abaaoud was a leader of a cell of Belgian militants, mostly of Moroccan descent, who had sworn fidelity to the Islamic State.
French news organizations have reported that Mr. Abaaoud was recorded on a surveillance video at 10:14 p.m. last Friday at the Croix de Chavaux station on the No. 9 line of the Métro — near the street where the attackers at four restaurants in the 10th and 11th Arrondissements left a black Leon Seat. If confirmed, the video suggests that Mr. Abaaoud had been not only an organizer of the attacks, but also a participant.
On Friday, a lawyer for Mr. Abaaoud’s father, Omar, said he had expressed dismay that his son had not been captured alive, because the family wanted to learn what had happened to a younger son who had been lured to fight for the Islamic State.
“He was expecting for the raid to end very badly,” the lawyer, Nathalie Gallant, told reporters in Brussels. Abdelhamid Abaaoud had persuaded his brother Younes, then 13, to join him in Syria.
Omar Abaaoud’s “only regret is that they didn’t capture him alive so that they could interrogate him,” Ms. Gallant said. “The father hoped to understand how his son could have gone off the tracks, understand why he took Younes with him, where Younes is, and whether he’s still alive or whether he’s dead.”Omar Abaaoud’s “only regret is that they didn’t capture him alive so that they could interrogate him,” Ms. Gallant said. “The father hoped to understand how his son could have gone off the tracks, understand why he took Younes with him, where Younes is, and whether he’s still alive or whether he’s dead.”
The forensic investigation into the raid — a military-style police assault that included drones, robots, assault rifles and grenades — advanced as the government continued a nationwide sweep aimed at preventing another attack. Moroccan news agencies reported on Friday that another brother, Yassine, who is in jail in Morocco, tipped off Moroccan security services that Abdelhamid was not in Syria — as French intelligence agencies initially believed — but rather in France, leading intelligence agencies to the apartment in St.-Denis.
A senior Moroccan diplomat declined to comment on those reports, saying only that the cooperation between the French and Moroccan intelligence and security services was “very strong,” and that officials in both countries were working together on the investigation in “a very serious and efficient way.”
The forensic investigation into the St.-Denis raid — a military-style police assault that included drones, robots, assault rifles and grenades — continued, along with a nationwide sweep aimed at preventing another attack.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Friday that the police had conducted 182 new raids overnight, detaining 17 people and seizing 76 weapons. In total, the police have conducted 793 raids over the past five nights, detaining 90 people.Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Friday that the police had conducted 182 new raids overnight, detaining 17 people and seizing 76 weapons. In total, the police have conducted 793 raids over the past five nights, detaining 90 people.
In Belgium, the authorities continued their manhunt for a fugitive, Salah Abdeslam, 26, who is believed to have fled after the Paris attacks. The French Parliament took the final steps to extend a state of emergency and expand its scope. The Senate, the upper house of Parliament, unanimously passed the legislation on Friday evening, a day after the National Assembly, the lower house, overwhelmingly passed it as well.
Two Belgians — Hamza Attou, 21, a Brussels native; and Mohamed Amri, 27, who was born in Morocco — appeared in court in Brussels on Friday on charges of participating in a terrorist activity. In addition to extending the state of emergency for three months, starting on Nov. 26, the bill will strengthen the powers of a 1955 emergency law to allow the dissolution of radical groups running mosques and other places of prayer; the blocking of websites and social media that glorify or incite terrorism; and the use, in certain cases, of electronic monitoring for those placed under house arrest.
In Belgium, the authorities continued their hunt for a fugitive, Salah Abdeslam, 26, who is believed to have fled after the Paris attacks.
Two Belgians — Hamza Attou, 21, a Brussels native, and Mohamed Amri, 27, who was born in Morocco — appeared in court in Brussels on Friday on charges of participating in a terrorist activity.
Mr. Attou and Mr. Amri, who were detained on Tuesday, are accused of driving Mr. Abdeslam to Brussels after the attacks. Carine Couquelet, a lawyer who is representing Mr. Attou, has said the two men played no role in the assaults. “There are no indications pointing to his culpability,” she said of her client.Mr. Attou and Mr. Amri, who were detained on Tuesday, are accused of driving Mr. Abdeslam to Brussels after the attacks. Carine Couquelet, a lawyer who is representing Mr. Attou, has said the two men played no role in the assaults. “There are no indications pointing to his culpability,” she said of her client.
The two men received a call at about 2 a.m. after the attacks, Ms. Couquelet said this past week, then drove across the border and into Paris and “simply went to get Salah, without knowing” what they were getting into. The two men received a call at about 2 a.m. after the attacks, Ms. Couquelet said this week, then drove across the border and into Paris and “simply went to get Salah, without knowing” what they were getting into.
When asked what the three had talked about during the ride home to Brussels, Mr. Amri’s lawyer, Xavier Carrette, said that Mr. Abdeslam “appeared stressed out” but did not mention the attacks.When asked what the three had talked about during the ride home to Brussels, Mr. Amri’s lawyer, Xavier Carrette, said that Mr. Abdeslam “appeared stressed out” but did not mention the attacks.
Mr. Amri and Mr. Attou were aware that “something had happened in Paris when they went to get Salah Abdeslam but didn’t suspect anything,” Mr. Carrette said.Mr. Amri and Mr. Attou were aware that “something had happened in Paris when they went to get Salah Abdeslam but didn’t suspect anything,” Mr. Carrette said.
Also on Friday, French officials announced that President François Hollande would preside over a national ceremony in tribute to the victims, at the Invalides in Paris at 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 27.
The French Parliament was also expected to take the final steps to extend a state of emergency and expand its scope.
The Senate, the upper house of Parliament, was to discuss and vote on the emergency bill on Friday afternoon, a day after the National Assembly, the lower house, overwhelmingly passed it.
In addition to extending the state of emergency for three months, starting on Nov. 26, the bill would strengthen the powers of a 1955 emergency law to allow the dissolution of radical groups running mosques and other places of prayer; the blocking of websites and social media that glorify or incite terrorism; and the use, in certain cases, of electronic tagging for those placed under house arrest.
Although a bill is usually sent back and forth between the two houses with amendments, the Senate is expected to pass the emergency legislation with no modifications.
European Union interior and justice ministers met in an emergency session in Brussels on Friday, as the twin challenges of migration and terrorism have compelled the bloc to re-evaluate one of its proudest achievements: the free movement of people across its borders.
With the focus now on bolstering security one week after the Paris attacks, the ministers are expected to give their backing to measures demanded by France this week that include tightening external borders.
Other French proposals aimed at curbing the trade in weapons and keeping records of air passengers have already been the subject of discussions for months. But they are likely to be given added momentum at the meeting.
The main focus of the talks is expected to be on the outer edges of the bloc’s free movement area, which includes the porous border into Greece.
Concerns about Europe’s external borders were amplified this past week by suggestions that Mr. Abaaoud, a Belgian of Moroccan origin, had traveled from the Middle East back to the European Union without facing adequate checks.
The French authorities said this week that they had received no warning that Mr. Abaaoud was inside the European Union — until a foreign intelligence service told them on Monday evening.
The discovery of a Syrian passport near the body of one of the perpetrators of the Paris attacks also heightened concerns. It appears that the attacker stole the passport of a Syrian man and used it to enter Greece.
Mr. Cazeneuve, the French interior minister, told reporters as he arrived at the meeting in Brussels that he was seeking “a considerable reinforcement of controls of external borders of the European Union.” More robust checks were needed because “terrorists cross borders within the European Union,” he said.
Theresa May, the British home secretary, told reporters as she arrived at the meeting that there was “a clear link between security of the external border — the E.U.’s external borders — and security within the E.U.”
Bolstering the external border could require the bloc to re-evaluate its priorities if such steps worsen the conditions for refugees seeking a haven from war and persecution. The bloc has already struggled to devise a unified humanitarian response to prevent migrants from languishing in the winter cold at the Continent’s frontiers or drowning off its coastlines.
Any modification to the so-called Schengen area, which includes more than 20 European Union member states, is also a sensitive political matter. The area symbolizes the central goal of the European project: knitting together nations and economies to advance prosperity and peace. Neither France nor Germany will want to unravel that system entirely.
But the ministers do seem likely to approve initiatives aimed at tightening up the system and extending checks. A key French demand this past week requested that police at the borders of the Schengen area check the records of citizens holding passports from countries inside the zone as rigorously as those holding passports from countries outside.
Another French demand is to speed up a long-stalled deal for storing passenger records from flights between European cities and to allow the authorities to keep those records for one year.
“The negotiations have taken too long — that must be concluded,” Ms. May said, referring to the initiative to retain the passenger records.
Paris has also called for the meeting on Friday to pressure states in the western Balkans to adopt “severe” curbs on arms trafficking.