Third body found at site of Paris attacks raid

The scale of the worldwide Islamist threat has been underlined by an attack by gunmen on an global hotel in Bamako, the capital of the west African country of Mali – a former French colony – which left at least 19 dead and saw scores of hostages taken.

A French security official says the suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks was seen on surveillance camera in the subway around the time of the shootings and suicide bombings in cafes, a rock concert and a stadium.

French President Francois Hollande is going to Washington and Moscow next week to push for a stronger worldwide coalition against Islamic State.

The resolution came hours after the death toll from the terrorist atrocities rose to 130, one week since Islamic State (IS) militants attacked a concert hall, the French national stadium and several cafes and restaurants in Paris, leaving hundreds injured.

In Paris, it emerged on Friday that Abaaoud’s cousin, Hasna Ait Boulahcen, who also died in the St-Denis police siege, had not blown herself up as originally thought but had died when the suicide vest of a third extremist present in the apartment was detonated. It also is the seat of the Belgian federal government and the headquarters of two major worldwide institutions, the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

With France under a state of emergency, most demonstrations and large gatherings have been banned in Paris since the November 13 attacks that shattered a joyful night out. “We recommended to take into account the security of places where a lot of people gather”.

The state-run Anadolu Agency said Saturday that the two Syrians and the Belgian national – identified as Ahmet D. – were detained near the Turkish coastal city of Antalya.

The official can not be named because of Turkish government rules that bar officials from speaking to reporters without prior authorization.

“We need to act firmly, we need to act swiftly and with force”, Mr Cazeneuve said after the Luxembourg minister who chaired the meeting confirmed the formal approval of an agreement reached among officials earlier in the week.

It came after police sources said on Thursday that Moroccan intelligence had helped put French investigators on the trail of Abaaoud. The Paris prosecutor’s office said it had no information to communicate about Dahmani.

“Strengthening the control at external [EU] borders is indispensable for the protection of European citizens, especially in the light of the recent terrorist attacks”, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told journalists in Brussels, where European ministers responsible for justice, home affairs and security met to discuss immediate measures to fight terrorism.

A petty criminal who went to fight in Syria in 2013, Abdelhamid Abaaoud is believed to have recruited similar young men from immigrant families in his native Brussels district of Molenbeek and elsewhere in Belgium and France. One of the seven dead has not been identified, while a manhunt is underway for one suspect who escaped, Salah Abdeslam, 26.

His suicide-bomber brother Brahim Abdeslam blew himself up at a cafe, without killing anyone else.

In Paris, French officials said Friday that a third body – that of a male – was found in the rubble of Wednesday’s massive predawn police raid in which the suspected ringleader of the November 13 Paris attacks was killed.