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15 Jihadist Terrorist Attacks Thwarted in France

(Washington Post) Edward Cody - A plot to set off a bomb in the Paris subway, revealed through a tip from Spain, was one of 15 planned terrorist attacks by jihadist cells in France that have been thwarted in recent years, according to the Central Directorate of Internal Intelligence (DCRI), France's main antiterrorism force. The emphasis in Europe has been on domestic human intelligence rather than the computerized systems such as watch lists favored by U.S. security agencies. That has meant tedious hours of surveillance, patient listening-in on telephone conversations, careful review of bank records, and relentless recruitment of informants among Islamic zealots. A DCRI field agent, interviewed recently on France 2 television, said all 15 terrorist plots in France were uncovered because of information received from human sources, recruited among a Muslim population estimated at more than 5 million. "In the shadows, we put into place...detection systems, surveillance arrangements that allow us to act at the right moment," Bernard Squarcini, until recently the DCRI director, said in an interview. "Our obsession is to anticipate, that is, to neutralize terrorists before they strike."
2010-05-13 08:17:09
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