REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PARIS - To stop the stream of French youths pursuing jihad in Syria, France is preparing to try to tackle terrorism before it starts, by involving schools, parents and local Muslim leaders, The Associated Press has learned.
This is part of a still-confidential plan prompted by fears that young radicals who travel to Syria could return home with the skills and motivation to carry out attacks — a Europe-wide concern. French officials said the plan would be made public soon.
The fears resurfaced last week when authorities revealed the discovery near Cannes of three soda cans packed with nails, bolts and explosives plus bomb-making instructions at the apartment of a 23-year-old man who had returned from Syria. Memories are still fresh of a radical Muslim Frenchman who gunned down children at a Toulouse Jewish school in 2012, after training in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
To combat terrorism, France amassed one of the West's toughest legal arsenals following terror attacks in the 1990s, focusing on prosecuting proven extremists instead of trying to prevent radicalization. That's about to change, according to several top government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan is still being finalized.
"We are working upstream," said one high-ranking security official. "That's new in France." Another government official said France is "not on the forefront when it comes to the prevention of radicalization." They said France has consulted British authorities to try to learn from similar efforts there.
The new French push will be a challenge in a country where distrust runs high between police and minority youth in hardscrabble housing projects, and provokes occasional riots. And it could prompt controversy if it is directed solely at Islam. France, a secular nation that demands a clear separation between church and state, has been accused of stigmatizing Muslims with measures such as banning face-covering Islamic veils.
The new French government plan also includes tough measures to bolster intelligence and border surveillance, including restricting minors from leaving France, the officials said, confirming a report in Le Monde. Authorities also want to improve cooperation with counterparts in Turkey, a key route into Syria for fighters.
French authorities said in January that up to 700 French had left for Syria, were planning to go or died in battle. The migration to Syria — including teens as young as 15 — far outstrips the number of Europeans who left for Iraq and Afghanistan in years past.
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