The terrorist threat may never have been greater, according to intelligence services, but in Paris and Berlin the population seem indifferent to the visible signs of increased security, report RUADHÁN MAC CORMAICin Paris and DEREK SCALLYin Berlin
PARIS
AT THE STROKE of noon on the first Wednesday of every month the loud, rumbling wail of air-raid sirens sweeps out across Paris. It comes at you suddenly: a deep, ominous howl, rising and then dipping, repeated slowly after five-second intervals until it fades out and the sound of car horns fills the air again. The monthly test of the 4,500 sirens put in place during the second World War, which are now France’s emergency-warning network for terrorist attacks and natural disasters, can be disconcerting at first, a jarring intrusion into the lives of millions and an incongruous reminder of how vulnerable their city could be. But then you grow used to it, and, after a while, as with everyone sitting around you on the bus or in the cafe, it barely registers.
Parisians have reacted in much the same way to the latest warnings that the city is under threat of attack. In recent weeks the government has raised its terror alert after picking up intelligence about a plot against France. According to Bernard Squarcini, the head of domestic counterterrorism, the threat has never been greater. Reports that a female suicide bomber had travelled from Algeria to Paris were recently discounted, but this week the US, UK, Japan and Sweden all warned their citizens about terror attacks in Europe. Some warnings specifically mentioned France.
On the streets of the French capital the threat has had visible effects. Groups of soldiers armed with automatic weapons patrol the busiest tourist districts and Métro stations, with a notably heavy presence around two of the sites – the Eiffel tower and Notre Dame cathedral – mentioned by the intelligence services as possible targets.
Since the authorities publicised their concerns, bomb scares have become more frequent: there were nine in Paris in September, six more than in the same month last year, with hoax calls leading to the evacuation of the Eiffel Tower (twice), the Gare Saint-Lazare and the RER train station at Saint-Michel.
Yet, for all that, the public seems thoroughly unperturbed. Buses and metros are as packed as ever at rush hour. Crowds of tourists still line up for overpriced trinkets and panoramic photographs along the Seine (though now some of them ask soldiers to step into the shot). Newspapers have stopped running straw polls on people’s fears, because there are only so many ways you can render a shoulder shrug in print, while opposition politicians flatly accuse President Sarkozy of amplifying the threat to distract from his myriad other problems. The possibility of a deadly attack is not much of a talking point; nobody I know has even mentioned it.
THE INDIFFERENCE is far from irrational, of course. Perhaps people have an instinctive sense of the reassuring odds: that the risk of dying in a terrorist attack is much lower than the risk of dying in a car accident, by walking across the street, by drowning, by fire, by falling or being murdered.
I doubt most Parisians reason this way, but they intuitively know something about negotiating risk in a big city. Recently I heard of a man in his late 20s who, while walking in the north of the city, turned a corner only to be hit so hard on the head by a metal bar that he will live with permanent brain damage. Then there are the occasional cases of commuters being killed by being deliberately pushed in front of metro trains.
One, a 24-year-old named Valéry Kerbouz, whose partner was six months pregnant at the time, was on his way home from work on a Friday night in February when a stranger inexplicably pushed him on to the tracks in front of an oncoming train. To be the victim of a pousseur – a pusher – was all about “being in the wrong place at the wrong time”, his bereaved brother said afterwards.
Cities are resilient organisms, but that’s partly because wilful denial of indiscriminate danger is part of the bargain we buy into. Fear and stoical resilience are not opposites. They’re just two more neighbours forced by their intimate surroundings to co-exist.
RMacC
BERLIN
ON THE DAY US news channels warned of an increased terror threat in Europe, news channels here warned that one in five German women is now considered alcoholic. That gives an indication of how seriously Germans are taking the warnings from the US. In Berlin, reactions range from no concern to frustration about the lack of detail.
“What exactly do they want us to do with that kind of warning?” says Cherry, a 51-year-old from Arizona in front of the Hotel Adlon, a supposed target. “I’m just going to get on with enjoying my vacation.”
Berliners are, by and large, an unexcitable lot. The German capital has not been the target of a terrorist attack, and few here see that as likely to change. “The more over-the-top the rumour the less likely I think a terrorism strike actually is,” says commuter Heino at Friedrichstrasse train station.
At the Fernsehturm television tower, also named as a target, Margot from Düsseldorf says: “You never know, but there’s no point getting into a state about it.”
German interior minister Thomas de Maiziére went on radio this week to say there was no reason to spread panic. “No one should be in any doubt that Germany too is a target area for terrorists, but on the other hand there is no concrete imminent attack plan that we are aware of,” he said. The politician acknowledged there is a known, if abstract, danger from German-born Islamist extremists known to be training at al-Qaeda camps in Pakistan.
This week’s US drone attacks in Pakistan, which reportedly killed eight German citizens, are believed to be related to this plot. Ahmed Siddiqui, a German citizen reportedly in US custody, is said to have identified the other members of his Hamburg Islamist cell involved in the planning of the terrorist attacks in Europe.
After 9/11, Germans were incensed to learn the plot was hatched in Hamburg. Mohammed Atta and his co-conspirators used a mosque as a front for planning the attack, apparently in the knowledge that German law prohibited secret services from conducting surveillance on religion organisations.
In the wake of the attacks that law was changed, and German security services are keeping a close watch on suspected extremist organisations. During the summer they closed another such cell, reportedly fronting as a prayer group in a mosque.
DS
Security tip for the paranoid traveller Don't wear runners
THE EUROPEAN travel alert issued last week by the US State Department is not as serious as a travel warning, which would effectively ban travel for US citizens to Europe. Alerts simply advise visitors to Europe to be aware of the possibility of attacks – however remote – from groups such as al-Qaeda.
The security advice for the tens of thousands of Irish citizens who reside, work and commute throughout Europe on a daily basis is straightforward.
First, the scary bit. Groups such as al-Qaeda have realised sustained "swarming" attacks such as those carried out in Mumbai in November 2008 are more effective terror instruments than suicide-bomb attacks. The 7/7 suicide attacks in London killed fewer than 60 civilians. The sustained Mumbai attacks, where terrorists used assault rifles and grenades, led to the deaths of almost 200.
Unlike split-second suicide-bomb events, the Mumbai attacks gave rise to a 72-hour rolling-news event that yielded record-breaking viewer ratings worldwide. The international intelligence and security community concluded that groups such as al-Qaeda are targeting European public-transport hubs for co-ordinated bomb and gun attacks, in order to inflict maximum casualties.
Other symbolic targets would include high-profile hotel groups associated with American tourists, along with commercial or industrial complexes associated with US multinationals. Tourist attractions are also believed to be high on the list of targets.
Against this background, the advice to travellers, tourists and commuters is simple. According to the US State Department website, US citizens are advised to "be vigilant" and to "report suspicious packages or suspicious behaviour". Other nationalities are warned by their governments to "be on the look-out for persons carrying weapons". Such a statement is little more than good common sense. Other advice is worth considering, such as, where possible, to avoid travelling on public-transport systems at peak times.
Other valuable advice – particularly for Irish citizens, who are generally unfamiliar with firearms – is to immediately leave the scene if shooting commences in a public place. Irish people have a tendency to walk towards loud noises such as gunfire in order to see what's happening. Other nationalities tend to disperse quickly on hearing gunfire.
Irish citizens travelling abroad should carry their passports with them at all times. Recent experiences in Mumbai and elsewhere have demonstrated that terrorists are interested in killing or injuring US and British citizens in particular. In a hostage situation, evidence of Irish citizenship might be useful.
Finally, some security experts are advising US tourists to avoid wearing trainers in Europe. Apparently, some jihadis in terrorist training camps have been taught that Europeans rarely wear trainers – except when engaged in sporting activities – and that US citizens can be identified by the wearing of trainers as leisure wear.
It is a sad reflection on our security environment when fashion advice might mean the difference between life and death.
Tom Clonan
