French press review 23 November 2015

Libération investigates the search operations underway in the Brussels neighbourhood of Molenbeek, the so-called headquarters of the Abdeslam brothers, where 16 suspects were rounded up over the weekend.

The paper says Brahim and Salah operated a café in Molenbeek from where they lived a “bling bling” life and were at the centre of a trafficking ring. They seem to have been radicalized very quickly according to the says Libération. The left-leaning newspaper has an in-depth report about Europe going on to ask reportorial questions about how jihadists have managed to travel across Europe and then into France without being detected.

According to the Communist party daily whether it is Paris, the Malian capital Bamako, venue of the deadly hotel siege or Brussels, the watch word is “all for one and one for all”.

“Let’s raise our rights to go about with our lives, to the level of an emergency, writes the publication as it salutes the emergence of new fraternities that have seen men and women of all creeds in France and from around the world rallying together to ward off their worst fears.

The Catholic daily La Croix reports from Mali where the government has declared three days of national mourning in honour of 22 people (mainly foreigners) who were shot dead at a hotel in the capital Bamako last Friday. The terrorists belonged to the Al Mourabitoune jihadist group which claimed responsibility for the attack -- the sixth time the country is being targeted by terrorists.

For L’Humanité, Mali is paying the price of being at the heart of France’s security mission in the Sahel.

L’Humanité also explores the surge of Jihadist groups since the founding of Al Qaeda/Taliban alliance in Afghanistan in 1987. They now number 11 groups in all including Al Qaeda in the Maghreb, Boko Haram in Nigeria, Al Shebaab in Somalia, Ansar Dine in Mali and Niger, Ansar al Sharia in Algeria, the Al Nostra Front and Islamic State armed group in Syria and Iraq.

For the paper the spreading ideological influence and the operational capacity of the Islamic State armed group has led to a reconfiguration of Jihadist networks, some resorting to the worst forms of barbarism in other to prove their loyalty to ISIS.

Several papers are quite impressed by President François Hollande’s efforts to mobilize a global war council. Le Figaro reports that he is definitely on the frontline: a meeting today with British Prime Minister David Cameron at the Elysée, a trip to Washington for talks with President Barack Obama on Tuesday.

He is due back to Paris on Wednesday to welcome German Chancellor Angela Merkel before flying out to Moscow for Thursday’s appointment with Russian President Vladimir Putine. According to the publication, the civilized world must make use of the week-long war council to overcome their rivalries and hesitations in order to overcome the bunch of barbarians terrorizing not just the people of the Middle East but now those Western countries.

Le Figaro however notes that despite being on police records and placed under surveillance by anti-terrorism squad, members of the commando, who struck Paris, took advantage of loopholes in the system: Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the Abdeslam brothers, Samy Ammour Omar Ismaël Mostifaï, Mohammad Al-Mahmod and Ahmad Al-Mohammad.

Some of the national dailies comment about the rather timid resumption of campaigns for the French regional elections, now just two weeks away.

Libération’s eyes are on the Riviera region of PACA where the National Front is basking on its strong showing in opinion polls.

But according to the newspaper, the main opposition “Les Républicains” are facing a dilemma – how to attack the Socialist party bent on nationalizing the vote for political gain without appearing divisive. La Croix argues that whatever the resolve of the candidates, things will never be the same again, especially just one week after the horror attacks in Paris.