Terror fears mount in France

LYON, France – Following Friday's attempted assault at a chemical plant that officials described as a terrorist attack, France was hunkering down Saturday for what politicians and analysts warned could be a prolonged period of uncertainty and fear.

Yassin Salhi, the 35-year-old delivery man who allegedly beheaded his boss and assaulted a chemical plant near this city, was refusing to cooperate with police, authorities said.

But a clearer picture was emerging of his background, including his suspected ties to an outlawed French Islamist group. Salhi had also reportedly associated with a French national who was wanted for questioning in the 2009 bombings of the Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels in Jakarta.

The assault, however, drove home the scope of the threat now facing France. Five months after three homegrown extremists killed 17 people in and around Paris in January, officials, including Prime Minister Manuel Valls, were already warning the nation to brace for more terror attacks.

[Explosions hit French factory; terrorist probe opened]

Despite a number of steps taken to bolster counter-terrorism and de-radicalization efforts here – including a sweeping new surveillance law passed last week — analysts warned that the size of the security problem now confronting France outweighed the ability of the nation's intelligence services to cope.

"We probably have 3,000 to 5,000 people in France who should be under surveillance," said Jean Charles Brisard, a counter-terrorism expert based in Paris. "And we've got 3,000 people, a few more, doing that job. It's just not possible to watch everyone."

France, which is home to Europe's largest Muslim population, has seen more of its nationals and legal residents – more than 1,200 – leave in recent years to join radical Islamists fighting in Syria and Iraq than any other nation in the region. In April, Valls said that French authorities had, in recent months, already foiled five terror plots.

On Friday, Salhi drove a delivery truck onto the grounds of an American-owned chemical factory. He drove the truck into a shed, apparently attempting to spark a large explosion. Only a minor blast ensued, and moments later, he was apprehended by a firefighter.

During his assault, Salhi had placed the severed head of his boss on a fence post, along with flags carrying an Islamic declaration of faith. One question authorities were probing was whether Salhi had committed an independent act, or whether he had taken direction or counsel from foreign or domestic radical groups.

Salhi had recently moved to the area, and officials were trying to establish whether he had purposely sought a job at the delivery firm because its trucks had access to the plant. During the attack, Salhi took a "selfie" of himself with his boss's decapitated head, and sent it to a Canadian phone number, the Associated Press reported.

In Lyon, France's third-largest city, which is known for sausages and fish dumplings, local residents spoke of a rising sense of insecurity.

"This could happen anywhere," said Gérard Combe, 70, a local shop owner. "In airports, in malls, in crowded places. Is the state doing enough? It's hard to say. The secret service are monitoring people, but it's not enough."

France is taking steps to strengthen its counter-terror operations — sometimes, critics say, at the risk of civil liberties. Last week, the French parliament passed a surveillance law allowing its intelligence services to collect vast amounts of Internet metadata, as well as eavesdrop on terror suspects without a court order. The controversial law, however, will not take effect until a court decides whether it violates the French constitution.

In January, Valls announced that 2,680 new counter-terrorism positions would be created within the next three years. France has also sought to introduce more moderate imams into its prisons to combat homegrown extremism.

But some here are pushing for far more controversial steps. On Saturday, Marine Le Pen – head of the far right National Front party – was pushing for far more radical measures, including a construction freeze on new mosques and the monitoring of sermons.

Some in France's Muslim community – the largest in Europe – voiced concern that growing terror fears would empower those with a broader anti-Islam agenda.

"In France, we feel isolated as Muslims," said Elbagli Kadoug, 52, a maid who was waiting for a bus outside the suburban apartment building where Salhi lived with his family. "Now they will want to point the finger at us all."

In addition to Salhi, his wife and sister were also in custody.

French officials had had Salhi under surveillance from 2006 to 2008, citing his associations with known radicals. Due to lack of evidence, he faced a reduced level of scrutiny in later years.

In 2014, French intelligence compiled a report on Salhi, according to one person briefed on the document. It noted that he had, in the past, been linked to the members of Forsake Eliza, a group whose leaders faced terror charges in court this month. Police raids of group members' homes uncovered a cache of weapons and a list of alleged terror targets.

Virgule Demoustier contributed to this report.

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Anthony Faiola is The Post's Berlin bureau chief. Faiola joined the Post in 1994, since then reporting for the paper from six continents and serving as bureau chief in Tokyo, Buenos Aires, New York and London.

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