The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
We’ll strike again, warn Paris killers
AN Islamic State jihadi has been named as the master-mind of the murderous attacks in Paris – amid warnings from the terrorists that Washington will be their next target.
Belgian Abdelhamid Abaaoud, pictured, was identified as the ringleader of the massacre as IS vowed every na-tion involved in air strikes in Syria would suffer the same fate as France.
The threat emerged as questions mounted over how the Paris attackers were able to avoid detection.
Meanwhile, the north and north- east put on a show of solidarity with France.
France wants to unite with the US and Russia in a grand coalition dedicated to fighting Islamic State, French president Francois Hollande has said.
The announcement came as authorities worldwide struggled to pinpoint those responsible for the deadliest attacks on France since World War II.
Mr Hollande said: “The faces of the dead people, of the wounded, of the families don’t leave my mind.”
He spoke after France and many allies observed a minute of silence in honour of the 129 killed and 350 wounded when three teams of IS attackers targeted the national stadium, a rock concert and four nightspots with assault gun fire and suicide bombs on Friday.
“In my determination to combat terrorism, I want France to remain itself. The barbarians who attack France would like to disfigure it. They will not make it change,” Mr Hollande declared. “They must never be able to spoil France’s soul.”
Mr Hollande also said he would present a bill on Wednesday seeking to extend the state of emergency – granting the police and military greater powers of search and arrest, and local governments the right to suspend demonstrations and impose curfews – for another three months.
In neighbouring Belgium, the base for many of the attackers, police surrounded a suspected hideout for a man identified as a driver for the attackers, 26year-old Salah Abdeslam, but came up empty after charging into the property.
In Paris, officials identified the alleged Belgian mastermind of the attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who is believed to be beyond reach in Syria.
Earlier yesterday, thousands clasped hands outside some of the bullet-riddled nightspots as children returned to school and city authorities vowed to resume normal life as quickly as possible.
In a powerful symbolic move, the Eiffel Tower reopened to tourists after a two-day shutdown.
As darkness fell it was floodlit in the red, white and blue of the French flag along with a projection of Paris’ motto of “tossed but not sunk”, suggesting an unsinkable city tossed in the waves.
Mr Hollande said the United States and Russia needed to set aside their policy divisions over Syria and “fight this terrorist army in a single coalition”.
He said he hoped tomeet US president Barack Obama and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, although he did not specify whether they would all meet together.