By Ruth Bender, Noemie Bisserbe and Sam Schechner
PARIS--When gunmen killed 17 people in a string of attacks in
Paris in January, France tightened security and cracked down on
French nationals traveling to territory controlled by radical
Islamist groups.
But the attack on a relatively small-scale industrial gas plant
in southeastern France on Friday, which left one victim
decapitated, exposes the unpredictable threat France faces even far
away from its capital.
Friday's attack hit an outpost of U.S.-based industrial gas firm
Air Products & Chemicals Inc. that had some flammable chemicals
used by the attacker, but otherwise no obvious reason to be a
target for terrorists.
The facility, in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, is just one of 22
registered locations the U.S.-based company has in France, and
employed fewer than 50 of the company's 21,000 employees
worldwide.
Some experts warn that attacks on industrial sites like the
facility hit on Friday, as opposed to a political or religious
target, could make the combat against militants even tougher as it
broadens places of potential future targets.
"It's an important symbolic turning point," said Claude
Moniquet, CEO of Brussels-based think tank European Strategic
Intelligence and Security Center. "All of a sudden, the amount of
potential future targets are multiplied by 10, 20 or even 30 if you
consider that there are thousands of company sites across the
country."
France has stepped up its fight on terrorism in the wake of the
Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher shooting sprees nearly six months
ago -- one of the deadliest attacks in France's history.
Legislators have approved a new surveillance law, while the
government has boosted spending on military and intelligence and
taken action to crack down on radicalization among young people.
But the new attack reveals the tricky task Paris faces to combat an
ever growing threat of terrorism on its soil.
"The jihadist threat weighs heavily on our country. Faced with
this, we must never let down our guard," Prime Minister Manuel
Valls said in the hours after the attack that left one person dead,
found with his head severed at the site.
Since the January attacks, France has been on its highest terror
alert level and soldiers have been mobilized to protect possible
targets, including schools, newspaper offices and places of
worship.
In April, President François Hollande pledged to raise France's
military spending by 3.8 billion euros ($4.2 billion) over the next
four years and permanently dedicated 7,000 soldiers to homeland
security to counter the threat of terrorist attacks.
The government also said it would create 2,680 jobs and invest
425 million to bolster surveillance and intelligence.
"Over the past few months, the government has taken every
possible step to ensure the safety of French people, who are facing
a threat that remains very high," French Interior Minister Bernard
Cazeneuve said Friday.
The government also moved quickly to repair holes in France's
counterterrorism apparatus--relying on new laws to increase
surveillance powers and take more rapid action on suspects.
Before the attacks, the French Parliament had passed laws that
increased surveillance powers and dramatically expanded the
definition of terrorism--from acts that are carried out as part of
an established group or network to acts of "individual
enterprise."
After the attacks, the government accelerated a contentious
intelligence bill to further expand the government's ability to spy
on phone and Web communications without judicial approval. The law
was approved this week and now faces a constitutional review before
it is enacted.
"The government has done a lot, many attacks were thwarted,"
said Mr. Moniquet of the security think tank. "But zero risk is
simply not possible."
Officials have prevented at least five attacks in recent months,
including catching a heavily armed man in April suspected of
planning attacks on churches
It remains unclear why Friday's attacker chose to hit the
facility in Saint-Quentin Fallavier. Since the 1990s, the facility
has been included on a list of sensitive factories, but its risk is
rated as "low."
In April, the company said it had won a deal with Saudi Aramco
to build and own a minority stake in what the firms described as
the world's largest facility to produce oxygen and nitrogen. But
many other firms in France also have ties to Saudi Arabia.
Air Products said Friday that it is working closely with
authorities and that "security has been increased at locations
around the world as a precautionary measure."
Mr. Hollande was quick to try to reassure people. "We must not
give in to fear," he said.
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