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Inquiry Into Paris Terror Attacks Widens to Eastern Europe Inquiry Into Paris Terror Attacks Widens to Eastern Europe
(about 2 hours later)
BRUSSELS — The investigation into the Paris terrorist attacks, previously focused on jihadist networks in France and Belgium, has widened to Eastern Europe with a Belgian federal prosecutor announcing Friday that one of the terrorists traveled in September by car to Hungary, where he picked up two men now suspected of links to the carnage of Nov. 13. BRUSSELS — The investigation into the Paris terrorist attacks, previously focused on jihadist networks in France and Belgium, has widened to Eastern Europe, with a Belgian federal prosecutor announcing Friday that one of the people suspected of terrorism traveled in September by car to Hungary, where he picked up two men now believed to have links to the carnage of Nov. 13.
The disclosure of a Hungarian connection has not only dramatically expanded the scope of the investigation but has also put a spotlight on the question of whether jihadist militants have concealed themselves in a huge flow of asylum seekers passing through Eastern Europe.The disclosure of a Hungarian connection has not only dramatically expanded the scope of the investigation but has also put a spotlight on the question of whether jihadist militants have concealed themselves in a huge flow of asylum seekers passing through Eastern Europe.
A statement issued by the Belgian federal prosecutor on Friday said that Salah Abdeslam, a former Brussels resident who is the only known survivor from three terrorist squads that killed 130 people in Paris, had made two trips to the Hungarian capital, Budapest, in a rented Mercedes a few weeks before the Paris attacks. A statement issued by the Belgian federal prosecutor on Friday said that Salah Abdeslam, a former Brussels resident who is the only known survivor from three terrorist squads that killed 130 people in Paris, had made two trips to the Hungarian capital, Budapest, in a rented Mercedes-Benz a few weeks before the Paris attacks.
On a drive back to Western Europe on Sept. 9, he was stopped during a routine check at Hungary’s border with Austria and found to be transporting two men using what have since turned out to be “fake Belgian identity cards.”On a drive back to Western Europe on Sept. 9, he was stopped during a routine check at Hungary’s border with Austria and found to be transporting two men using what have since turned out to be “fake Belgian identity cards.”
At a news conference on Thursday in Budapest, the chief of staff of Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary said that Mr. Abdeslam had recruited a team of Paris attackers from unregistered migrants traveling through Hungary. He did not identify them.At a news conference on Thursday in Budapest, the chief of staff of Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary said that Mr. Abdeslam had recruited a team of Paris attackers from unregistered migrants traveling through Hungary. He did not identify them.
The Belgian prosecutor did not confirm that but said on Friday that the names on the fake identity cards used in Hungary in September by the two men traveling with Mr. Abdeslam were Samir Bouzid and Soufiane Kayal, names that have since surfaced in connection with the investigation into the Paris attacks.The Belgian prosecutor did not confirm that but said on Friday that the names on the fake identity cards used in Hungary in September by the two men traveling with Mr. Abdeslam were Samir Bouzid and Soufiane Kayal, names that have since surfaced in connection with the investigation into the Paris attacks.
An identity card in the name of Mr. Bouzid, the prosecutor said, was used on Nov. 17 at a Western Union office in Brussels to transfer 750 euros to Hasna Aitboulahcen, a 26-year-old Frenchwoman who was killed by the security forces on Nov. 18 along with the chief organizer of the Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud. The pair died during an early-morning raid on their hide-out in St.-Denis, just outside Paris.An identity card in the name of Mr. Bouzid, the prosecutor said, was used on Nov. 17 at a Western Union office in Brussels to transfer 750 euros to Hasna Aitboulahcen, a 26-year-old Frenchwoman who was killed by the security forces on Nov. 18 along with the chief organizer of the Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud. The pair died during an early-morning raid on their hide-out in St.-Denis, just outside Paris.
An identity card in the name of Mr. Kayal, the Belgian prosecutor said, was used to rent a house in Auvelais, a town south of Brussels raided by Belgium’s security forces last week in connection with the Paris attacks.An identity card in the name of Mr. Kayal, the Belgian prosecutor said, was used to rent a house in Auvelais, a town south of Brussels raided by Belgium’s security forces last week in connection with the Paris attacks.
The confirmation that Mr. Abdeslam, who has so far eluded arrest, visited Hungary, apparently as part of preparations for the Paris assault, gave some credence to assertions by the Hungarian government that the Paris plot had involved migrants who passed through Budapest’s Kaleti railway station.The confirmation that Mr. Abdeslam, who has so far eluded arrest, visited Hungary, apparently as part of preparations for the Paris assault, gave some credence to assertions by the Hungarian government that the Paris plot had involved migrants who passed through Budapest’s Kaleti railway station.
Hungary, which has taken a tough line on asylum seekers, has repeatedly sought to link migrants to terrorism, but the visits of Mr. Abdeslam to Budapest in September and his return to Western Europe with two men carrying fake Belgian identity cards provided the first evidence of a possible connection between asylum seekers in Hungary and jihadist extremism.Hungary, which has taken a tough line on asylum seekers, has repeatedly sought to link migrants to terrorism, but the visits of Mr. Abdeslam to Budapest in September and his return to Western Europe with two men carrying fake Belgian identity cards provided the first evidence of a possible connection between asylum seekers in Hungary and jihadist extremism.
European leaders, aside from Mr. Orban, have mostly played down the risk of a link between the flow of migrants and terrorism, despite the establishment of a clear connection by French investigators. Two of the attackers responsible for the Nov. 13 carnage entered the European Union through Greece, a country that is part of the so-called Schengen free-movement area and a frequent destination for migrants who travel through Turkey on their way to Europe. The European security services are increasingly worried about the overlap between migrants and jihadists, fearing that the disorderly influx of nearly a million people from the Middle East, Afghanistan and Africa into Europe so far this year has allowed militants loyal to the Islamic State and other violent groups to join the flood and cross borders unnoticed.
The International Organization for Migration, however, warned that the solution was better controls on Europe’s external borders, not a crackdown on legitimate refugees fleeing the war in Syria and other conflicts. “Security is going to be maintained by proper management of borders, not by stigmatizing the very people who are fleeing terrorism,” said Leonard Doyle, the organization’s spokesman. The key, he said, is to establish “safe, secure and legal channels for migration” to replace the free-for-all of recent months.
European leaders, in public statements, have mostly played down risk of a link between the flow of migrants and terrorism, despite the establishment of a clear connection by French investigators. Two of the attackers responsible for the Nov. 13 carnage entered the European Union through Greece, a country that is part of the so-called Schengen free-movement area and a frequent destination for migrants who travel through Turkey on their way to Europe.
Amid mounting doubts over whether the visa-free zone can survive as individual countries resume border controls to try to regulate the often chaotic influx of asylum seekers, European Union interior ministers met in Brussels on Friday to discuss the crisis.Amid mounting doubts over whether the visa-free zone can survive as individual countries resume border controls to try to regulate the often chaotic influx of asylum seekers, European Union interior ministers met in Brussels on Friday to discuss the crisis.
While adopting no striking new measures, the ministers said they had broken a logjam that has for years delayed the sharing of airline passenger information, an exchange of data known as Passenger Name Record, or PNR, that France has been pushing for with particular vigor since the Paris attacks.While adopting no striking new measures, the ministers said they had broken a logjam that has for years delayed the sharing of airline passenger information, an exchange of data known as Passenger Name Record, or PNR, that France has been pushing for with particular vigor since the Paris attacks.
The European Parliament, which has long blocked any such information sharing out of privacy concerns, still needs to give its approval, but the French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, declared Friday’s agreement among ministers “a real breakthrough.” The European Parliament, which has long blocked any such information sharing out of privacy concerns, still needs to give its approval, but the French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, declared Friday’s agreement among ministers “a real breakthrough.” France had initially wanted passenger information to remain intact for at least one year, but Friday’s deal settled for the six months favored by the Parliament.
France had initially wanted passenger information to remain intact for at least one year, but Friday’s deal settled for the six months favored by the Parliament.
But the exchange of airline passenger information, long demanded by law enforcement agencies across Europe as a vital tool in the battle against terrorism, would have done little to stop the Paris terrorists, who traveled between Belgium and France and also Hungary by car.But the exchange of airline passenger information, long demanded by law enforcement agencies across Europe as a vital tool in the battle against terrorism, would have done little to stop the Paris terrorists, who traveled between Belgium and France and also Hungary by car.
The hunt for Mr. Abdeslam, whose brother died in the Paris assault when he detonated an explosive vest, seems to have made little headway, despite dozens of police raids.The hunt for Mr. Abdeslam, whose brother died in the Paris assault when he detonated an explosive vest, seems to have made little headway, despite dozens of police raids.
Mr. Abdeslam was stopped by the French police during a routine check near the Belgian border as he made his way back to Brussels from Paris by car on the morning after the Nov. 13 attacks. But, as had happened earlier in Hungary, he was allowed to continue on. He was last seen later that day, Saturday Nov. 14, when a friend dropped him off in the Brussels district of Schaerbeek.Mr. Abdeslam was stopped by the French police during a routine check near the Belgian border as he made his way back to Brussels from Paris by car on the morning after the Nov. 13 attacks. But, as had happened earlier in Hungary, he was allowed to continue on. He was last seen later that day, Saturday Nov. 14, when a friend dropped him off in the Brussels district of Schaerbeek.
“The Belgian inquiry into the Paris attacks of Nov. 13 has revealed a number of preparatory activities involving a number of suspects that haven’t been identified or arrested yet,” the Belgian prosecutor’s office said in a statement.“The Belgian inquiry into the Paris attacks of Nov. 13 has revealed a number of preparatory activities involving a number of suspects that haven’t been identified or arrested yet,” the Belgian prosecutor’s office said in a statement.