Manhunts, death threats as Europe on high terror alert

BRUSSELS, Belgium – Europe was on high alert Sunday, January 18, as the suspected mastermind of a jihadist cell in Belgium remained at large and jittery authorities blocked anti-Islamist rallies in Germany and France.

With tensions heightened, the second gunman in the Charlie Hebdo magazine attack was buried discreetly in an unmarked grave near Paris late Saturday, January 17, in the hope that it would not become a pilgrimage site for radical Islamists.

Meanwhile, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, considered the brains behind the cell plotting to kill Belgian police, was still on the run days after the group was dismantled by intelligence services.

But the probe appeared to be progressing with Belgian federal prosecutors announcing they would seek the extradition of a suspect arrested in Athens on Saturday “who could be linked” to the cell.

In Germany, police banned a rally by the anti-Islamic PEGIDA movement and other open-air gatherings planned for Monday, January 19, in the eastern city of Dresden, saying there was a “concrete threat” of an attack against its leadership.

The group claimed the threat came from the Islamic State (ISIS) group based in Syria and Iraq, with local media reporting that PEGIDA’s most prominent leader Lutz Bachmann was the target.

The PEGIDA marches have grown steadily since they began in October and drew a record 25,000 people last Monday, January 12, in the wake of the Paris attacks that left 17 people dead.

The anti-Islamic rallies have spread to other European countries as well, with the first Danish PEGIDA march to take place in Copenhagen on Monday. Organizers said they were expecting some 300 people.

Separately, a French court on Sunday prevented a rally by anti-Islamist groups in Paris on the grounds that they were promoting Islamophobia.

In the wake of the French attacks and the Belgian anti-terror raids, EU foreign ministers were to meet in Brussels on Monday to discuss ways to boost cooperation to combat the threat posed by radicalized Europeans returning home after fighting in Iraq and Syria.

The meeting comes as the bloc prepares for a special leaders’ summit on February 12 dedicated to fighting terrorism.

Pakistan protests

Cherif Kouachi, one of two brothers who killed 12 people in the attack on satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on January 7, was buried in a cemetery in Gennevilliers, a day after the funeral of his older brother Said in the northeastern city of Reims.

The family, including Cherif Kouachi’s widow, kept away from the funeral, the mayor’s office said.

The brothers were shot dead by police after a 3-day manhunt following their attack on Charlie Hebdo, which had enraged many Muslims around the world with its repeated publication of cartoons lampooning Islam’s Prophet Mohammed.

Anger erupted in a string of majority Muslim countries after the magazine responded to the decimation of its staff by running another caricature last week, showing the prophet under the headline “All Is Forgiven”.

The worst unrest was in Niger, where at least 10 people were killed and several churches were torched over two days of rioting.

Fresh protests broke out Sunday in Pakistan where thousands gathered in almost all major cities, including Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad, chanting angry slogans and burning French flags.

Charlie Hebdo‘s chief editor has defended the cartoons.

“Every time we draw a cartoon of Mohammed, every time we draw a cartoon of prophets, every time we draw a cartoon of God, we defend the freedom of religion,” Gerard Biard told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program.

The weekly has sold 2.7 million copies of the post-killings “survivors’ issue” in France alone and said it would extend its print run to seven million copies – exponentially more than the weekly’s normal circulation of 60,000.

President Francois Hollande said France was committed to freedom of expression and people should not change their habits since “to do so would be to yield to terrorism”.

But a poll published in Le Journal du Dimanche found 42% of French people thought publications should avoid running cartoons of Mohammed, and 50% favored limiting freedom of expression on the Internet and social networks.

French police were meanwhile still questioning nine people arrested on Friday, January 16, on suspicion of providing logistical support such as cars and weapons to Amedy Coulibaly, another Islamist gunman who claimed to be working with the Kouachi brothers.

Coulibaly killed 4 Jews in a siege at a kosher supermarket in Paris on January 9 before being shot dead by police. – With Juliette Montesse in Nanterre, France, Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com