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| France steps up security at Jewish sites after synagogue attack | France steps up security at Jewish sites after synagogue attack |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| France has increased security at Jewish religious sites after blank shots were fired at a synagogue west of Paris and police arrested 11 people on suspicion of being part of an Islamist jihadist cell. | France has increased security at Jewish religious sites after blank shots were fired at a synagogue west of Paris and police arrested 11 people on suspicion of being part of an Islamist jihadist cell. |
| François Hollande held talks with Jewish community leaders at the Elysée and announced that security would be stepped up immediately at religious sites. He said the state was "totally mobilised against terrorist threats" and "intransigent" in fighting racism and antisemitism. | François Hollande held talks with Jewish community leaders at the Elysée and announced that security would be stepped up immediately at religious sites. He said the state was "totally mobilised against terrorist threats" and "intransigent" in fighting racism and antisemitism. |
| On Saturday evening, blank bullets were fired from a car at a synagogue in the Paris suburb of Argenteuil while worshippers were inside the building. Earlier on Saturday, police raids outside Paris, Cannes and Strasbourg led to a series of arrests in connection with what the state prosecutor described as a suspected radical Islamist cell. | On Saturday evening, blank bullets were fired from a car at a synagogue in the Paris suburb of Argenteuil while worshippers were inside the building. Earlier on Saturday, police raids outside Paris, Cannes and Strasbourg led to a series of arrests in connection with what the state prosecutor described as a suspected radical Islamist cell. |
| The main target in the raids was a 33-year-old man in Strasbourg whose DNA was found on a grenade used in a daylight attack on a Jewish kosher grocery store in Sarcelles, north of Paris, last month, in which one person was wounded. When police arrived to arrest him before dawn on Saturday, he opened fire with a handgun and was shot dead by officers. | The main target in the raids was a 33-year-old man in Strasbourg whose DNA was found on a grenade used in a daylight attack on a Jewish kosher grocery store in Sarcelles, north of Paris, last month, in which one person was wounded. When police arrived to arrest him before dawn on Saturday, he opened fire with a handgun and was shot dead by officers. |
| A convicted drug dealer, he was described as a "delinquent who converted to radical Islam" and was said by police to have been determined to "end as a martyr". Three of the people arrested had a criminal record for offences such drug-trafficking, theft and violence. | A convicted drug dealer, he was described as a "delinquent who converted to radical Islam" and was said by police to have been determined to "end as a martyr". Three of the people arrested had a criminal record for offences such drug-trafficking, theft and violence. |
| The Paris prosecutor François Molins said the police searches had found Islamist literature and a list of Jewish associations in the Paris area. The suspects were French and recent converts to Islam. He said investigators were looking at whether the cell had been preparing to carry out attacks. | The Paris prosecutor François Molins said the police searches had found Islamist literature and a list of Jewish associations in the Paris area. The suspects were French and recent converts to Islam. He said investigators were looking at whether the cell had been preparing to carry out attacks. |
| Hollande warned that France's Muslim community must not be tarnished or stigmatised by the arrests. "They must not suffer, they are also victims of radical Islamism," he said. French Muslim organisations denounced the synagogue attack. | Hollande warned that France's Muslim community must not be tarnished or stigmatised by the arrests. "They must not suffer, they are also victims of radical Islamism," he said. French Muslim organisations denounced the synagogue attack. |
| France is still on edge after Mohamed Merah, a 23-year-old unemployed panel-beater from Toulouse, went on a 10-day killing spree in March, murdering three paratroopers and shooting children and a rabbi at the gates of a Jewish school. Merah died in a hail of police bullets as he leapt from a balcony after a 32-hour siege at his flat. | France is still on edge after Mohamed Merah, a 23-year-old unemployed panel-beater from Toulouse, went on a 10-day killing spree in March, murdering three paratroopers and shooting children and a rabbi at the gates of a Jewish school. Merah died in a hail of police bullets as he leapt from a balcony after a 32-hour siege at his flat. |
| Questions remain over failings in the operation and how Merah – who claimed inspiration from al-Qaida, was heavily armed, on police intelligence files and had been under surveillance – was not picked up earlier. | Questions remain over failings in the operation and how Merah – who claimed inspiration from al-Qaida, was heavily armed, on police intelligence files and had been under surveillance – was not picked up earlier. |
| Molins was careful not to draw links with Merah, who studied at an Islamist paramilitary camp in Pakistan, saying officials did not believe the men arrested on Saturday had trained abroad. | Molins was careful not to draw links with Merah, who studied at an Islamist paramilitary camp in Pakistan, saying officials did not believe the men arrested on Saturday had trained abroad. |
| The interior minister Manuel Valls, dubbed Hollande's vice-president for his prominence in the media and tough stance on crime, warned of terrorist networks "in our neighbourhoods". | The interior minister Manuel Valls, dubbed Hollande's vice-president for his prominence in the media and tough stance on crime, warned of terrorist networks "in our neighbourhoods". |
| "This isn't about foreigners, it's about converted French people or French Muslims. But let's not confuse these people with the Muslim community in France," he said. | "This isn't about foreigners, it's about converted French people or French Muslims. But let's not confuse these people with the Muslim community in France," he said. |
| Meanwhile, a storm was brewing over inflammatory language after Jean-Francois Copé, a candidate for leadership of Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party who has previously complained of "anti-white racism", told an anecdote at a rally about a child who "had his pain au chocolat grabbed from him by thugs who said there must be no eating during Ramadan". | Meanwhile, a storm was brewing over inflammatory language after Jean-Francois Copé, a candidate for leadership of Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party who has previously complained of "anti-white racism", told an anecdote at a rally about a child who "had his pain au chocolat grabbed from him by thugs who said there must be no eating during Ramadan". |
| The former Sarkozy minister François Baroin, who is supporting Copé's opponent, François Fillon, warned against "toxic and dangerous little phrases." The Socialist prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, warned against what he called a "stigmatising" discourse against minorities. | The former Sarkozy minister François Baroin, who is supporting Copé's opponent, François Fillon, warned against "toxic and dangerous little phrases." The Socialist prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, warned against what he called a "stigmatising" discourse against minorities. |
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