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/2016/04/11/world/europe/brussels-attackers-original-target-was-france-prosecutor-says.html

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

Version 4 Version 5
Brussels Attackers’ Original Target Was France, Prosecutor Says Revelation on Brussels Attackers Fuels Fears of New Assaults
(about 9 hours later)
PARIS — Belgian authorities announced on Sunday that the group of attackers who set off bombs at the Brussels airport and a subway station on March 22 had initially planned to hit France. BRUSSELS — The announcement by the Belgian authorities on Sunday that the attackers who set off bombs in Brussels on March 22 had initially planned to strike in France was a reminder that intelligence and police services are still learning about the full extent of the Islamic State’s plots and networks in Europe, and are struggling to keep up.
The Belgian federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement that “numerous elements in the investigation have shown that the terrorist group initially had the intention to strike in France again.” By Sunday, the excitement over the capture on Friday of four suspects in the Brussels bombings had begun to give way to more sober assessments, and warnings that more attacks could come at any time, in other European capitals as well as in Paris and Brussels.
“Eventually, surprised by the speed of the progress in the ongoing investigation, they urgently took the decision to strike in Brussels,” the statement said. “We are not finished yet with the job of finding everyone who is in this big network, Paris and Brussels,” said Jean-Charles Brisard, the head of the French Center for the Analysis of Terrorism in Paris.
The specific targets in Paris were La Défense, a large office and commercial complex just northwest of Paris, as well as an unidentified Catholic association, said Claude Moniquet, a former French intelligence officer who now works in Belgium and who has been in regular contact with investigators. “Every time progress is made, we add another few people to the list of people we are looking for,” he said.
Two of the men who took part in the Nov. 13 attacks in and around Paris, and who died in a police raid days later, had also been planning an assault on La Défense, the Paris prosecutor said at the time. The Islamic State, which has claimed responsibility for the Paris and Brussels attacks, had also mentioned an assault in the 18th Arrondissement of Paris in November, but the exact location was never clear and no strikes occurred there. The reality that, after five months of intensive work, French and Belgian investigators into the attacks in Paris and Brussels are still finding new suspects and learning about potential new targets provides a window into the size of one of the Islamic State’s European networks.
La Défense would be both a symbolic target and an important economic one for terrorists. Tens of thousands of people work in the large complex, which includes the offices of many of France’s major companies, including Areva, Total and Société Générale. Many multinational companies also have substantial offices there. Western intelligence and counterterrorism officials say their working assumption is that there are potentially comparable cells — although the one in Paris and Brussels may have been particularly large — in two or more European countries, including Britain and Germany, and that they are poised to carry out attacks.
La Défense is also home to a sprawling indoor shopping mall and a train station for two of the busiest commuter lines in the Paris region. “Other Islamic State cells are highly likely to be in existence across Western Europe, preparing and organizing further operations, and awaiting direction from the group’s central leadership to execute,” said Matthew Henman, the head of IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Center in London.
Investigators have uncovered an increasing number of links between the group that attacked Paris in November, which killed 130 people, and the group that bombed the Brussels airport and Maelbeek subway station last month, killing 32. “A key area of focus is gaining a better understanding of how these cells are structured and their organizational and operational methods,” he said.
Those links suggest, as did the Belgian prosecutor’s office statement from Sunday, that the two groups were part of the same larger network, with several people playing roles in both attacks. Although many of those people have now been arrested, it is unclear to what extent the network is still operational. The Islamic State, which has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Brussels and Paris, has demonstrated a longstanding animosity for France, an active participant in the United States’ fight against the Islamic State in Syria. It has pledged to target France and has been helped by the large number of French-speaking foreign fighters, many of them from France and Belgium, but others from the French-speaking Maghreb countries of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.
One of those involved was Mohamed Abrini, 31, who is suspected of playing a significant logistical role in the Paris attacks. He was seen in surveillance videos with some of the Paris attackers in November as they traveled from the Brussels area to Paris to manage the details for the attacks, and also on the trip transporting some of the attackers to Paris. Of the foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq, an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 are from Europe. About 1,800 people have left or tried to leave France to fight in Syria and Iraq, according to recent statements by Bernard Cazeneuve, the French interior minister. An additional 450 have gone to those countries from Belgium, according to estimates by European think tanks.
Mr. Abrini, a Belgian and Moroccan citizen, was arrested in the Anderlecht section of Brussels on Friday. He later admitted to the police that he was the “man in the hat,” a suspect in the Brussels airport bombing who was caught on surveillance cameras leaving the site after two accomplices detonated explosives in the departures hall, killing 15 people and themselves. The information that the Islamic State had aimed to strike France again came from the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office in a statement that said, “Numerous elements in the investigation have shown that the terrorist group initially had the intention to strike in France again.”
Mr. Abrini’s DNA and fingerprints were found in a Brussels apartment, on Rue Henri Bergé in the Schaerbeek neighborhood, where investigators suspect explosives and suicide belts were made for the Paris attacks. Traces of Mr. Abrini were also found in an apartment in Schaerbeek, on Rue Max Roos, that was used by the Brussels attackers, and where investigators found large quantities of explosives and bomb-making equipment. “Eventually, surprised by the speed of the progress in the ongoing investigation, they urgently took the decision to strike in Brussels,” it added.
The French targets were La Défense, a large office and commercial complex just northwest of Paris, and an unidentified Catholic association, said Claude Moniquet, a former French intelligence officer who now works in Belgium and who has been in regular contact with investigators.
Two of the men who took part in those attacks and who died in a police raid days later had also been planning an assault on La Défense, the Paris prosecutor said at the time.
The Islamic State, which has claimed responsibility for the Paris and Brussels attacks, had also mentioned an assault in the 18th Arrondissement of Paris in November, but the exact location was never clear, and no attacks occurred there.
La Défense would be both a symbolic target and an important economic one for terrorists. Tens of thousands of people work in the complex, which includes the offices of many of France’s major companies, including Areva, Total and Société Générale. Many multinational companies also have large offices there.
La Défense is also home to an indoor shopping mall and a train station for two of the busiest commuter lines in the Paris region.
Investigators have uncovered an increasing number of links between the group that attacked Paris in November, killing 130 people, and the group that bombed the Brussels airport and a subway station last month, killing 32.
Those links suggest, as did the prosecutor’s office statement Sunday, that the groups were part of the same larger network, with several people playing roles in both attacks. Although many people who are suspected of being among them have been arrested, it is unclear to what extent the network is still operational.
One of those suspects is Mohamed Abrini, 31, who is accused of playing a significant logistical role in the Paris attacks. He was seen in surveillance videos with some of the Paris attackers in November as they traveled to Paris from the Brussels area to manage the details for the attacks, and on the trip transporting some of the attackers to Paris.
Mr. Abrini, a Belgian and Moroccan citizen, was arrested in the Anderlecht section of Brussels on Friday. The police said he later admitted that he was the “man in the hat,” a suspect in the Brussels Airport bombing who was caught on surveillance cameras accompanying two suicide bombers who detonated explosives in the departures hall, killing 15 people and themselves.
Mr. Abrini’s DNA and fingerprints were found in a Brussels apartment, on Rue Henri Bergé in the Schaerbeek neighborhood, where investigators suspect explosives and suicide belts were made for the Paris attacks. Mr. Abrini’s DNA and fingerprints were also found in an apartment in Schaerbeek, on Rue Max Roos, that was used by the Brussels attackers, and where investigators found large quantities of explosives and bomb-making equipment.
A Belgian judge specializing in terrorism cases ordered that Mr. Abrini be detained in connection with the Brussels attacks and charged him with participation in the activities of a terrorist group, terrorist murders and attempted terrorist murders, the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office said Sunday.A Belgian judge specializing in terrorism cases ordered that Mr. Abrini be detained in connection with the Brussels attacks and charged him with participation in the activities of a terrorist group, terrorist murders and attempted terrorist murders, the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office said Sunday.