French Premier Declares ‘War’ on Radical Islam as Paris Girds for Rally - NYTimes.comFrench Premier Declares ‘War’ on Radical Islam as Paris Girds for Rally - NYTimes.com






NYTimes.com no longer supports Internet Explorer 8 or earlier. Please upgrade your browser.
LEARN MORE »









Sections


Home
just updated

Search
Skip to content
Skip to navigation
View mobile version









Europe|French Premier Declares ‘War’ on Radical Islam as Paris Girds for Rally
 





Search


Log In

 0
Settings




Close search

search sponsored by






Search NYTimes.com



Clear this text input



Go






http://nyti.ms/1sigLI2




Loading...




See next articles





See previous articles













                                Home Page                                                            



                                Home Page                                                            



                                World                                                                    




                                U.S.                                                                    




                                Politics                                                                    




                                New York                                                                    




                                Business                                                                    




                                Business                                                                    




                                Opinion                                                                    




                                Opinion                                                                    




                                Technology                                                                    




                                Science                                                                    




                                Health                                                                    




                                Sports                                                                    




                                Sports                                                                    








                                Arts                                                                    




                                Arts                                                                    




                                Fashion & Style                                                                    




                                Fashion & Style                                                                    




                                Food                                                                    




                                Food                                                                    




                                Home & Garden                                                            



                                Travel                                                            



                                Magazine                                                            



                                Real Estate                                                                    




                                Obituaries                                                            







                                Video                                                                    




                                The Upshot                                                            







                                More                                                                    





 










                                Africa                                                            



                                Americas                                                            



                                Asia Pacific                                                            



                                Europe                                                            



                                Middle East                                                            



                                At War                                                            



                                India Ink                                                            



                                Sinosphere                                                            







                                Education                                                            







                                First Draft                                                            



                                Elections                                                            







                                City Room                                                            



                                ArtsBeat                                                            



                                Events                                                            







                                DealBook                                                            



                                Economy                                                            



                                Energy                                                            



                                Markets                                                            



                                Media                                                            



                                Small Business                                                            



                                Your Money                                                            







                                DealBook                                                            



                                Economy                                                            



                                Energy                                                            



                                Markets                                                            



                                Media                                                            



                                Small Business                                                            



                                Your Money                                                            







                                Op-Ed Columnists                                                                    









                                Editorials                                                            



                                Contributing Writers                                                            



                                Op-Ed Contributors                                                            



                                Opinionator                                                            



                                Letters                                                            



                                Sunday Review                                                            



                                Taking Note                                                            



                                Room for Debate                                                            



                                Public Editor                                                            



                                Cartoons                                                            







                                Op-Ed Columnists                                                                    









                                Editorials                                                            



                                Contributing Writers                                                            



                                Op-Ed Contributors                                                            



                                Opinionator                                                            



                                Letters                                                            



                                Sunday Review                                                            



                                Taking Note                                                            



                                Room for Debate                                                            



                                Public Editor                                                            



                                Cartoons                                                            







                                Bits                                                            



                                Personal Tech                                                            







                                Environment                                                            



                                Space & Cosmos                                                            







                                Well                                                            



                                Health Guide                                                            



                                Fitness & Nutrition                                                            



                                Money & Policy                                                            



                                The New Old Age                                                            



                                Views                                                            







                                Baseball                                                            



                                Basketball: College                                                            



                                Basketball: N.B.A.                                                            



                                Football: College                                                            



                                Football: N.F.L.                                                            



                                Golf                                                            



                                Hockey                                                            



                                Soccer                                                            



                                Tennis                                                            







                                Baseball                                                            



                                Basketball: College                                                            



                                Basketball: N.B.A.                                                            



                                Football: College                                                            



                                Football: N.F.L.                                                            



                                Golf                                                            



                                Hockey                                                            



                                Soccer                                                            



                                Tennis                                                            







                                Art & Design                                                            



                                ArtsBeat                                                            



                                Books                                                            



                                Dance                                                            



                                Movies                                                            



                                Music                                                            



                                N.Y.C. Events Guide                                                            



                                Television                                                            



                                Theater                                                            



                                Video Games                                                            







                                Art & Design                                                            



                                ArtsBeat                                                            



                                Books                                                            



                                Dance                                                            



                                Movies                                                            



                                Music                                                            



                                N.Y.C. Events Guide                                                            



                                Television                                                            



                                Theater                                                            



                                Video Games                                                            







                                T Magazine                                                            



                                Motherlode                                                            



                                On the Runway                                                            



                                Weddings                                                            







                                T Magazine                                                            



                                Motherlode                                                            



                                On the Runway                                                            



                                Weddings                                                            







                                Cooking                                                            



                                Restaurant Search                                                            







                                Cooking                                                            



                                Restaurant Search                                                            







                                Commercial Real Estate                                                            



                                Great Homes & Destinations                                                            



                                My Real Estate                                                            







                                U.S. & Politics                                                            



                                International                                                            



                                New York                                                            



                                Opinion                                                            



                                Times Documentaries                                                            



                                Business                                                            



                                Technology                                                            



                                Culture                                                            



                                Style                                                            



                                Health                                                            



                                Food                                                            



                                Travel                                                            



                                Sports                                                            



                                Real Estate                                                            



                                Science                                                            







                                Crossword                                                            



                                Times Premier                                                            







                                Today's Paper                                                            



                                Automobiles                                                            



                                Corrections                                                            







                                Multimedia                                                            



                                Photography                                                            







                                Classifieds                                                            



                                Tools & Services                                                            



                                Jobs                                                            



                                Times Topics                                                            



                                Blogs                                                            



                                NYT Store                                                            



                                Times Journeys                                                            



                                Subscribe                                                            



                                Manage Account                                                            











                            Charles M. Blow                                                    



                            David Brooks                                                    



                            Frank Bruni                                                    



                            Roger Cohen                                                    



                            Gail Collins                                                    



                            Ross Douthat                                                    



                            Maureen Dowd                                                    



                            Thomas L. Friedman                                                    



                            Nicholas Kristof                                                    



                            Paul Krugman                                                    



                            Joe Nocera                                                    





                            Charles M. Blow                                                    



                            David Brooks                                                    



                            Frank Bruni                                                    



                            Roger Cohen                                                    



                            Gail Collins                                                    



                            Ross Douthat                                                    



                            Maureen Dowd                                                    



                            Thomas L. Friedman                                                    



                            Nicholas Kristof                                                    



                            Paul Krugman                                                    



                            Joe Nocera                                                    


 









 
Europe |​​NYT Now

French Premier Declares ‘War’ on Radical Islam as Paris Girds for Rally

By DAN BILEFSKY and MAÏA de la BAUMEJAN. 10, 2015
 
Inside








Photo






A police officer on Saturday outside a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris where a gunman and four of his hostages were killed.

Credit
            David Ramos/Getty Images        



Continue reading the main story

Continue reading the main story




Continue reading the main story
Share This Page

Continue reading the main story


PARIS —  Prime Minister Manuel Valls declared Saturday that France was at war with radical Islam after the harrowing sieges that led to the deaths of three gunmen and four hostages the day before. New details emerged about the bloody final confrontations, and security forces remained on high alert.“It is a war against terrorism, against jihadism, against radical Islam, against everything that is aimed at breaking fraternity, freedom, solidarity,” Mr. Valls said during a speech in Évry, south of Paris.The authorities started the day hunting for the companion of one of the killers, only to learn later that she appeared to have fled to Turkey and then probably to Syria days before the first assault in Paris on Wednesday. The police had suspected that the woman — Hayat Boumeddiene, 26, the girlfriend of Amedy Coulibaly, believed to be one of the gunmen — might have played a role in one or more of the attacks. 

Continue reading the main story


                            Related Coverage
                    










In Cold Political Terms, Far Right and French President Both GainJAN. 11, 2015








Jihadism Born in a Paris Park and Fueled in the Prison YardJAN. 11, 2015












After Terrorist Attacks, Many French Muslims Wonder: What Now?JAN. 10, 2015












French Police Say Suspect in Attack Evolved From Petty Criminal to TerroristJAN. 10, 2015








Jihadists and Supporters Take to Social Media to Praise Attack on Charlie Hebdo JAN. 10, 2015








Open Source: Muslim Employee of Kosher Market in Paris Praised for Hiding Customers From GunmanJAN. 10, 2015







“We are 99 percent sure that she traveled to Syria from Urfa,” said a Turkish intelligence official, referring to a city in southern Turkey. “There is no evidence that suggests she was involved in the terrorist attacks in France this week.”
Photo






Supporters holding signs saying “I am Charlie” before a rugby match at the Mayol stadium in Toulon, southern France.

Credit
            Franck Pennant/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images        


France remained on edge a day after security forces killed Mr. Coulibaly, who the police said was responsible for the deaths of four hostages at a kosher supermarket near the Porte de Vincennes in eastern Paris on Friday, and Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, the brothers who fatally shot 12 people on Wednesday in and around the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper.The French government said it would put 500 additional troops on the streets over the weekend amid preparations for a giant unity rally in Paris on Sunday. A number of European officials said they would attend, including Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey, the most prominent Muslim leader scheduled to be there.Other foreign officials who have said they would be at the rally include Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people marched in Paris, Toulouse, Nice and other cities in a show of solidarity, and rallies were held in places as far away as Madagascar, Tel Aviv and Bangui, Central African Republic.Top ministers in the French government held an emergency session to discuss measures to prevent a repeat of the attacks, which shocked the country and raised questions about why law enforcement agencies had failed to thwart terrorism suspects well known to the police and intelligence services. 
Continue reading the main story



                Graphic            

                The Links Among the Paris Terror Suspects and Their Connections to Jihad            

                Where their lives intersected and what may have influenced them.            








                    OPEN Graphic                




Some of the surviving hostages shared chilling accounts of their ordeals at the hands of heavily armed captors, who they said had seemed prepared to die as police forces amassed outside the kosher supermarket and a printing plant northeast of Paris that the Kouachi brothers had seized early Friday.Mr. Coulibaly, in an interview with a French television outlet not long before he was killed, claimed to be affiliated with the Islamic State, which has its headquarters in northern Syria. Officials identified him as the gunman in the fatal shooting of a female police officer in a Paris suburb on Thursday.Continue reading the main story
The crisis and its aftermath presented a major challenge to President François Hollande and his government, which are facing deep religious and cultural rifts in a nation with a rapidly growing Muslim population while simultaneously coping with the security threats stemming from Islamic extremists. Large numbers of French citizens have been traveling to Syria and Iraq to fight with the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL.Mr. Hollande, appealing for unity, has warned against seeing Muslims as the enemy, and Mr. Valls called again on Saturday for citizens to join the rally planned for Sunday.“There needs to be a firm message about the values of the republic and of secularism,” Mr. Valls said in Évry. “Tomorrow, France and the French can be proud. Everyone must come tomorrow.”
Photo






A sign on the Arc de Triomphe read “Paris Is Charlie,” a message of solidarity with the victims of Wednesday’s massacre at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

Credit
            Peter Dejong/Associated Press        


But the event was already proving polarizing in some quarters. Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Front, which was not invited, urged her followers to stay away, saying the rally had been “taken over by parties which represent what the French hate: partisan spirit, electioneering and indecent polemic.”Mr. Valls’s statement that France was at war with jihadists and radicals reflected the depth of the concerns over security in France and across much of Western Europe.
American officials said Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. would attend a meeting in Paris on Sunday convened by the French interior minister. Terrorist threats, foreign fighters and violent extremism were expected to be at the top of the agenda.Simone Rodan Benzaquen, the director of the American Jewish Committee in Paris, said there was deep anxiety among French Jews, who had already been grappling with a spate of anti-Semitism in recent months, prompting some to declare their intention to leave France.“We wonder whether it is the beginning of a series of further attacks or if it is the end, or a wake-up call that will help the country understand what Islamic radicalism is,” Ms. Rodan Benzaquen said.
Photo






A crowd paid tribute to the four hostages killed Friday at a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris.

Credit
            Olivier Hoslet/European Pressphoto Agency        


The Defense Ministry said it had added 250 soldiers to the 850-person force already deployed in the greater Paris area, and would add 250 more on Sunday. Security forces could be seen outside vulnerable targets in Paris.Yet a Turkish official said that French authorities were slow to provide information, allowing Ms. Boumeddiene to slip into Syria before she could be questioned about Mr. Coulibaly and the attacks.Much remained unknown or unclear about the attacks, the suspects and the efforts to hunt them down. After initially suggesting that the Kouachi brothers had another accomplice, the police have said little since an 18-year-old with the name of the person they were seeking turned himself in late Wednesday.The precise nature of the relationships among the Kouachi brothers, Mr. Coulibaly, the Islamic State and another terrorist group, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, remained murky. And with security services still on high alert, there was little public indication of whether the authorities had specific information about possible further attacks or simply remained worried about the potential for other terrorists to take cues from the French gunmen and from the jihadists and militant groups that had quickly applauded them as heroes.Continue reading the main story
Continue reading the main story
Le Monde, citing counterterrorism officials, said that the links between Mr. Coulibaly and Chérif Kouachi appeared to stretch back to 2010, and that telephone wiretaps showed that they had frequently visited Djamel Beghal, a French-Algerian champion of jihad who had once been imprisoned for planning an attack on the American Embassy in Paris in 2001. The police said Mr. Coulibaly and Mr. Kouachi had been followers of Mr. Beghal.
Continue reading the main story


            More on the Paris Shootings        








 



Mr. Coulibaly was an associate of Chérif, the younger Kouachi brother, a sometime pizza delivery man and fishmonger.The brothers were being tracked by intelligence officials in the United States, France and Yemen, but large gaps remain in the chronology of their actions and in accounts of their affiliations. A senior United States official said on Saturday that Saïd Kouachi had traveled to Yemen with another person, probably an accomplice, in the summer of 2011.The authorities are trying to determine whether that person was Chérif, who claimed to have gone to Yemen that year.The official said that the Kouachi brothers had known Mr. Coulibaly, and possibly Ms. Boumeddiene, also a French citizen, since childhood.Photographs of Ms. Boumeddiene published on Saturday showed her transition from a bikini-wearing young woman, posing on a beach with Mr. Coulibaly on a vacation, to a Muslim woman covered head to toe with only her eyes showing.
Photo






French police officers on patrol Saturday in the city. The government said it would put 500 more troops on the streets.

Credit
            Etienne Laurent/European Pressphoto Agency        



The police said Ms. Boumeddiene had married Mr. Coulibaly in a Muslim ceremony. There were reports that she did not attend her own wedding, where she was represented by her father.
In 2010, Mr. Coulibaly was arrested and detained in connection with an attempt to free Smaïn Aït Ali Belkacem, who was in prison while facing charges of helping engineer attacks in Paris in 1995 in which eight people were killed. Ms. Boumeddiene was also known to the authorities, raising questions about why she, like the three gunmen, was not more closely tracked.New details began to emerge Saturday about the standoffs, including the role played by a hostage at the printing plant in Dammartin-en-Goële, northeast of Paris.Prosecutors said that an employee at the plant had hidden under a sink in the cafeteria on the second floor, undetected and terrified, after the Kouachi brothers forced their way into the building early Friday. The chief executive of the company, Michel Catalano, told Sky News that he had instructed the employee to hide when he saw the gunmen. He said the man, Lilian Lepère, had secretly texted the police during the standoff and negotiations with the brothers that lasted until dusk.“I could see from a window that there was a man with a rocket launcher and a Kalashnikov,” the broadcaster quoted him as saying. “I could immediately see there was a situation of danger. I told my employee to hide. I knew two of us couldn’t hide.” 
Continue reading the main story








                    OPEN Graphic                



            Graphic: Tracking the Aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo Attack        


Hours after the takeover of the printing plant, Mr. Coulibaly, armed with AK-47s and explosives, took hostages, including women and children, at the kosher supermarket in eastern Paris.Continue reading the main story
Continue reading the main story
The police said Mr. Coulibaly had killed four people after he forced his way into the supermarket.As negotiations began, said Mohamed Douhane, a senior police official, the police were aware of Mr. Coulibaly’s identity and his links to the Kouachi brothers. He said the raids at the printing factory and the supermarket had been simultaneous because of concerns that Mr. Coulibaly would kill his hostages if he learned the Kouachi brothers were attacked.When the police lifted the shutters of the supermarket, Mr. Coulibaly emerged from the back of the store with his weapons, Mr. Douhane said.A young employee at the supermarket, Lassana Bathily, a Muslim from Mali, helped hide people in a cold storage room in the basement.One witness, Mickael, who declined to give his last name, told Le Point magazine that he had gone to the market with his 3-year-old son to buy bread and chicken for the Sabbath, and heard a loud blast.“I thought it was a firecracker,” he said. “But when I turned my head, I saw a black man armed with two Kalashnikovs.” He said he grabbed his son by the collar and they hid in the basement.“Five minutes later, a grocery employee sent by the attacker came down and told us to come upstairs, or the attacker said there would be a blood bath,” he continued. Upstairs, they found a dead man in a pool of blood and a calm Mr. Coulibaly, who introduced himself as a Muslim from Mali who belonged to the Islamic State.
Mr. Coulibaly ordered the hostages to put their phones down, but Mickael said he had discreetly recovered his and contacted the police. He said Mr. Coulibaly had appeared ready to die, with guns in both hands and a box of bullets nearby.When the shutters were raised, the hostages realized that a police assault was beginning. “The noise was deafening,” Mickael said. “He was dead. It was over.”The newspaper Liberation reported that one of the four hostages killed was Yohav Hattab, 21, the son of the chief rabbi of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. Mr. Hattab, 21, was studying marketing in Paris, the paper said. The Representative Council of Jewish Institutions identified the other hostages as Philippe Braham, Yohan Cohen and François-Michel Saada.


Eric Schmitt contributed reporting from Washington, and Sebnem Arsu and Ceylan Yeginsu from Istanbul.
A version of this article appears in print on January 11, 2015, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Paris Is on High Alert Ahead of a Giant Unity Rally.  Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe









More on nytimes.com






Site Index



News


World


U.S.


Politics


New York


Business


Technology


Science


Health


Sports


Education


Obituaries


Today's Paper


Corrections




Opinion


Today's Opinion


Op-Ed Columnists


Editorials


Contributing Writers


Op-Ed Contributors


Opinionator


Letters


Sunday Review


Taking Note


Room for Debate


Public Editor


Video: Opinion




Arts


Today's Arts


Art & Design


ArtsBeat


Books


Dance


Movies


Music


N.Y.C. Events Guide


Television


Theater


Video Games


Video: Arts




Living


Automobiles


Crossword


Food


Education


Fashion & Style


Health


Home & Garden


Jobs


Magazine


N.Y.C. Events Guide


Real Estate


T Magazine


Travel


Weddings & Celebrations




Listings & More


Classifieds


Tools & Services


Times Topics


Public Editor


N.Y.C. Events Guide


TV Listings


Blogs


Cartoons


Multimedia


Photography


Video


NYT Store


Times Journeys


Subscribe


Manage My Account




Subscribe

Subscribe


Times Premier



Home Delivery



Digital Subscriptions



NYT Opinion



Crossword




Email Newsletters


Alerts


Gift Subscriptions


Corporate Subscriptions


Education Rate




Mobile Applications


Replica Edition


International New York Times











                    © 2015 The New York Times Company


Home
Search
Contact Us
Work With Us
Advertise
Your Ad Choices
Privacy
Terms of Service
Terms of Sale




Site Map
Help
Site Feedback
Subscriptions


 











