Suspected mastermind of Paris attacks dead

PARIS -- The Belgian extremist suspected of masterminding the deadly attacks in Paris died along with his cousin when police stormed a suburban apartment building, French officials said Thursday, a day after the chaotic, bloody raid.

Police found Abdelhamid Abaaoud's body Wednesday in the apartment building in Saint-Denis, but it took some time to identify the 27-year-old using his fingerprints. It was not clear how he died.

Officials had believed that Abaaoud was in Syria, and it's not clear how he ended up near Paris. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said France did not know before last week's deadly attacks that Abaaoud was in Europe.

A country outside Europe tipped off Paris on Monday that Abaaoud had been spotted in Greece, Cazeneuve said, but he did not say when exactly Abaaoud was believed to have been there.

Abaaoud had bragged in the Islamic State extremist group's English-language magazine that he was able to slip in and out of Europe undetected.

Authorities have not detailed Abaaoud's exact whereabouts in the days leading up to, or his actions during, the series of deadly attacks last Friday that killed 129 people and injured hundreds of others at cafes, a rock concert and the national stadium.

Three police officials have said that a woman who died in the police raid Wednesday was Abaaoud's cousin. One said the woman, Hasna Aitboulahcen, is believed to have detonated a suicide vest in the building after a brief conversation with police officers. It was not clear whether she had any role in the attacks.

The official confirmed an audio recording, punctuated by gunshots, in which an officer asks: "Where is your boyfriend?" and she responds angrily: "He's not my boyfriend!" Then loud bangs are heard.

The bodies recovered in the raid were badly mangled, slowing down the identification process, according to one of the officials.

The three all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to divulge details of the investigation.

French police began the operation after receiving information from tapped phone calls, surveillance and tips suggesting that Abaaoud was holed up in the apartment. Eight people were arrested in the raid. The Paris prosecutor's office said those detained will stay in custody for at least another day. Under French law, officials can detain suspects for up to 96 hours without charges.

Cazeneuve said Thursday that Abaaoud was believed to be behind four of six attacks thwarted since spring by French authorities, including a planned April attack on a church in the Parisian suburb of Villejuif that was foiled when the would-be attacker shot himself in the foot, and another on a high-speed train where three Americans tackled a heavily armed man.

With Paris still reeling from the attacks, France's lower house of Parliament, the National Assembly, voted Thursday to extend a state of emergency for three months. The measure now goes to the Senate, where it likely will be approved.

The state of emergency expands police powers to carry out arrests and searches and allows authorities to forbid the movement of people and vehicles at specific times and places.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls had pressed for the extension, warning that Islamic extremists might use chemical or biological weapons.

"Terrorism hit France not because of what it is doing in Iraq and Syria ... but for what it is," Valls told lawmakers. "We know that there could also be a risk of chemical or biological weapons."

Valls did not say that there was a specific threat against France involving such weapons, however.

Speaking later on French TV, Valls said France is under a "long and permanent threat," stressing that investigators don't know whether there are other extremist cells that are still "active. It's probable."

Valls added that police have conducted 600 raids targeting Islamic extremists since the attacks on a rock concert, Parisian cafes and the stadium. Police have made more than 60 arrests and seized some 70 weapons, including 11 military-style firearms. Police are looking for anything that could be linked to jihadist networks or illegal weapons.

Jittery Europe

Elsewhere in Europe, jittery leaders and law enforcement authorities moved to protect their citizens as Rob Wainwright, director of the European Union's police coordination agency Europol, warned of "a very serious escalation" of the terror threat in Europe.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius urged the international community to do more to eradicate the Islamic State, which has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Fabius, speaking on France-Inter radio, said the group "is a monster. But if all the countries in the world aren't capable of fighting against 30,000 people [members of the Islamic State], it's incomprehensible."

Later Thursday, Cazeneuve, the French interior minister, said he had requested a meeting of European interior and justice ministers today in Brussels to discuss the fight against terrorism.

"Everyone must understand that it is urgent for Europe to recover, get organized and defend itself against the terrorist threat," Cazeneuve said. "It is necessary to move fast and hard."

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 who is believed to have been involved in the attacks but who slipped away in the chaos.

Nine people were arrested, including friends and family members 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 attacks on multiple targets, which also included the Bataclan concert hall and several restaurants and bars.

In Belgium, two suspects were already in custody charged with terrorist murder and belonging to a terrorist group.

An official in the Belgian federal prosecutor's office said the raids were taking place in the suburb of Molenbeek, where Abaaoud lived, and other areas of Brussels. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, meanwhile, pressed Parliament to pass tough new measures to imprison citizens returning home from fighting in Syria and to broaden law enforcemen officials' ability to tap phones and detain suspects for three days without charges. He called for shutting down websites that advocate jihad, or Islamic holy war.

Michel sought measures that would require immediate jailing for citizens returning from presumed militant activity in Syria, where the Islamic State has some of its main strongholds. 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.

In Italy, 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. Officials said the FBI had warned of a specific threat regarding the three sites.

The U.S. State Department issued a warning to U.S. 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.

U.S. and Russia

In response to the terror attacks, France has stepped up its airstrikes against extremists in Syria, and French military spokesman Col. Gilles Jaron said Thursday that French forces have destroyed 35 Islamic State targets in Syria since the attacks on Paris.

The U.S. and Russia also have been launching airstrikes over Syria, and French President Francois Hollande is traveling to Washington and Moscow next week to push for a stronger international coalition in the strikes against the Islamic State.

Hollande spoke by phone with President Barack Obama, who was in the Philippines. The White House said they discussed the latest information about the attack investigation and "both leaders reiterated their unwavering commitment to degrade and destroy" the Islamic State.

Later, Obama suggested a deal is not yet at hand for the U.S. to coordinate with Russia, underscoring the countries' disagreement over the fate of Syrian President Bashar Assad in regard to the civil war in Syria.

"At some point the Russians and the Iranians are going to have to make a fundamental decision," Obama told reporters in Manila on Thursday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. "Do they actually believe that they can prop up Assad and win on the ground militarily inside of Syria against all of the opposition? Or do they think it is actually better to save the Syrian state?"

The approach to a combined effort against Islamic State militants, as described by two Russian officials, would effectively include Assad's forces. Obama and allies -- including Hollande -- have said international efforts now underway to achieve a lasting resolution to Syria's civil war must lead to Assad stepping down eventually.

Obama has said the only way the U.S. would coordinate with Putin against the Islamic State is if it's clear that Russia, in its campaign of airstrikes, has stopped targeting anti-Assad forces supported by the U.S. and its allies.

The Russians "will have to make a fundamental shift, I believe, in policy" away from keeping Assad in power, Obama said in Manila.

"What we are doing with our coalition members is recognizing that it may take some months for the Russians, the Iranians and frankly some of the members of the Syrian government and dueling elites in the regime to recognize the truth that I just articulated," he said.

In other news, France circulated a United Nations Security Council draft resolution that calls on all countries to "redouble and coordinate their efforts" to prevent further attacks by the Islamic State and similar groups and "eradicate the safe haven they have established over significant parts of Iraq and Syria."

The text also condemns the recent attacks by the Islamic State and urges countries to "intensify their efforts to stem the flow of foreign terrorist fighters to Iraq and Syria."

British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft, whose country currently holds the council presidency, told reporters he will prepare a vote on the draft as soon as France wants.

A separate Russian draft resolution also seeks to unite countries against the Islamic State, but diplomats indicated that measure will not go forward.

Information for this article was contributed by Thomas Adamson, Samuel Petrequin and staff members of The Associated Press; by Angela Greiling Keane, Toluse Olorunnipa, Nicole Gaouette and staff members of Bloomberg News; by William Booth, Souad Mekhenner and staff members of The Washington Post

A Section on 11/20/2015