France, Belgium move to tighten security
FBI warns Italy about possible threats to Vatican City, Rome
BRUSSELS — Responding to rising threats across Europe, France on Thursday sought to extend a sweeping state of emergency for three months, as Belgium proposed tough new measures to detain and monitor suspects who support jihadist groups.
The calls for a crackdown came as French prosecutors confirmed Thursday that the accused ringleader of the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris was killed in a massive predawn police raid Wednesday. The death of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian militant of Moroccan descent, did little to calm European unease about the specter of more attacks.
In Italy, officials said the FBI had warned of a specific threat in Vatican City, Rome and Milan.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve warned that now “it is necessary to move fast and hard.”
He said that “all Europe must work together to defeat terror- ism” and called for an emergency meeting of the continent’s interior ministers on Friday.
Some European leaders seemed prepared to sweep aside cherished traditions that protect rights to privacy and civil liberties.
In Belgium, Prime Minister Charles Michel pressed Parliament to pass tough new measures to imprison citizens returning home from fighting in Syria and to broaden law enforcement’s ability to tap phones and detain suspects for three days without charges. Under the request, those on terrorist watch lists — about 800 residents in Belgium currently — would be forced to wear ankle bracelets to track their movements. He also called for shutting down websites that advocate jihad.
The moves came as fears ratcheted up across Europe of more hidden terror cells preparing similar strikes.
Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Italian security forces were “working to identify five people” who may be planning attacks on St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, Milan’s Duomo or the La Scala opera house.
The U.S. State Department issued a travel warning to American citizens traveling in Italy, calling those landmarks “potential targets” but also flagging possible threats to “churches, synagogues, restaurants, theaters and hotels” in Rome and Milan.
The three-month extension of emergency laws grants the French government powers to conduct stops and searches, ban large gatherings in public places and put suspected extremists under house arrest.
After approval in the National Assembly, the measure now goes to the French Senate for expected final backing Friday.
In Belgium, police searched at least eight homes in connection with Bilal Hadfi, 20, one of the suicide bombers in the Paris attacks, and Salah Abdelslam, 26, a fugitive believed to have been involved in the attacks but who slipped away amid the chaos.
Nine people were arrested, including friends and family of Hadfi, who blew himself up outside the Stade de France stadium north of Paris during a soccer match between France and Germany. He and six other assailants died in the series of attacks on multiple targets, which also included the Bataclan concert hall and several restaurants and bars.