European interior ministers and transport officials are due to hold emergency talks in Paris following last week’s foiled gun attack on a train.
The BBC’s Hugh Schofield in Paris says France wants tougher security measures after the incident on the Thalys train from Amsterdam to Paris.
Passengers overpowered a heavily armed man and pinned him to the floor.
French prosecutors have filed charges against 25-year-old Moroccan Ayoub El-Khazzani in connection with the attack.
But questions have been raised about how someone was able to board the train in Brussels carrying an assault rifle, 270 rounds of ammunition, a handgun, a box-cutter and petrol.
Saturday’s meeting will include ministers from Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France and Switzerland, as well as UK Home Secretary Theresa May.
Our correspondent says ideas to be raised at Saturday’s talks include:
*Airport-style metal-detectors on some international trains
*More armed security personnel
*Greater information exchange so that destination countries know when a suspect is heading their way
Announcing the meeting, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said: “We must see if we can put in place a mechanism that allows control at airports, in transportation, in a more co-ordinated manner.”
Any recommendations from the meeting will be debated first by a European rail security working group on 11 September and then by EU transport ministers meeting on October 7-8.
Khazzani is accused of carrying out a “targeted and premeditated” jihadist attack.
No-one died in the incident, although two passengers who helped to overpower the gunman were injured in the struggle.
Three Americans and one Briton have been awarded the Legion d’honneur by President Francois Hollande for their bravery, with awards for four more on the train likely to follow.
Khazzani is said to have denied plotting a terrorist attack, saying he found a bag of weapons the night before and planned to use them to rob passengers.
No comments:
Post a Comment