PARIS — France’s prime minister demanded tougher anti-terrorism measures Tuesday after deadly attacks that some call this country’s Sept. 11 — and that already may be leading to a crackdown on liberties in exchange for greater security.
Police told The Associated Press that the weapons used came from abroad, as authorities in several countries searched for possible accomplices and the sources of financing for last week’s attacks on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, a kosher market and police. A new suspect was identified in Bulgaria.
“We must not lower our guard, at any time,” Prime Minister Manuel Valls told Parliament, adding that “serious and very high risks remain.”
Lawmakers in the often-argumentative chamber gave repeated standing ovations to Valls’ rousing, indignant address — then voted 488-1 to extend French airstrikes against Islamic State extremists in Iraq.
“France is at war against terrorism, jihadism and radical Islamism,” Valls declared. “France is not at war against Islam.”
He called for increased surveillance of imprisoned radicals and told the interior minister to quickly come up with new security proposals.
French police say as many as six members of the terrorist cell that carried out the Paris attacks may still be at large, including a man seen driving a car registered to the widow of one of the gunmen. The country has deployed 10,000 troops to protect sensitive sites, including Jewish schools and synagogues, mosques and travel hubs.
Several people are being sought in connection with the “substantial” financing of the three gunmen behind the terror campaign, said Christophe Crepin, a French police union official.
“This cell did not include just those three. We think with all seriousness that they had accomplices, because of the weaponry, the logistics and the costs of it,” Crepin said. “These are heavy weapons. When I talk about things like a rocket launcher — it’s not like buying a baguette on the corner. It’s for targeted acts.”
In a sign that French judicial authorities were using laws against defending terrorism to their fullest extent, a man who had praised the terror attacks while resisting arrest on a drunken-driving violation was sentenced swiftly to four years in prison.
While the attacks have left France with jitters, some warned against going as far as a French version of the U.S. Patriot Act, passed after Sept. 11.
“This must not lead to the renouncing of fundamental freedoms, otherwise we prove right those who come to fight on our soil,” former Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on France-Inter radio.
Cherif Kouachi and older brother Said killed 12 people at the satirical newspaper’s offices Jan. 7, while their friend, Amedy Coulibaly, killed a French policewoman Thursday and four hostages Friday in a Paris kosher grocery. All three claimed ties to Islamic extremists in the Middle East — the Kouachis to al-Qaeda in Yemen and Coulibaly to the Islamic State.
All three gunmen died Friday in clashes with French police.
Earlier Tuesday, in ceremonies thousands of miles apart, France and Israel paid tribute to the victims of the terror attacks.
A ceremonial unit of the New York Police Department, including Muslim officers, was among those attending the service for the slain officers.
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Charlie Hebdo resumes publication
PARIS — Charlie Hebdo’s defiant issue is in print, with a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad on the cover and a double-page spread claiming that more turned out Sunday to back the satirical weekly “than for Mass.” The satirical magazine is planning to print 3 million copies.
The cover shows a weeping Muhammad, holding a sign saying “I am Charlie” with the words “All is forgiven” above him. Zineb El Rhazoui, a journalist with the newspaper, described the cover as meaning that the journalists were forgiving the extremists for the killings.
Europe’s Muslims feeling backlash
PARIS — A fierce backlash is following last week’s terror attack against Charlie Hebdo. An official who keeps track of Islamophobic attacks in France said there were 60 incidents and threats in the six days since that attack. They include firebombs and pig heads thrown into mosques, veiled women subjected to insults in the street and Internet threats against Muslims.
French authorities are warning the nation against linking French Muslims with terrorists.
Denver Post wire services
