French president says places ‘glorifying’ terror to be closed

Hollande’s statement came during a televised address Wednesday after a seven-hour police siege on an apartment north of Paris where police suspected the mastermind of the deadly Paris attacks might have been.

“Some people have wanted to link the influx of refugees from the Middle East and the terrorist threat against our nation”, said Hollande. In all, 129 people died in the Paris attacks last week that Islamic State militants claimed to have orchestrated. A passport found near one of the Friday suicide bombers identifying him as a Syrian refugee is believed to be a faked document, though fingerprint evidence appears to show that, whatever the man’s real name and origin, he did pass through Greece earlier this year in the guise of a refugee.

“Our duty of humanity towards refugees is consistent with the duty to protect the French people”, he said.

“We are not committed to a war of civilizations, because these assassins don’t represent any civilization”, Hollande said.

Among those killed in Friday’s attacks was a 23-year-old US exchange student, Nohemi Gonzalez, who was dining at a restaurant fired upon by gunmen.

He sought the support of the cities’ mayors, asking for the deployment of thousands more security forces in France’s communes and extra security checks of people and vehicles. “France will remain a country of freedom, of movement, of culture, an active, brave, dynamic country that doesn’t surrender to fear”. “They will continue as long as necessary”, he added.

More than 150 raids were carried out across France on Monday, and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve announced on Tuesday that another 128 anti-terror raids were carried out overnight, as French warplanes struck the ISIS “capital” of Raqqa for a second night, reports CNN. “We should do this in the spirit of an worldwide community”.

“I know the countries have different interest, conceptions and allies but what is at stake here is to put an end to an army that is threatening the whole world, not just a few countries”, Hollande said in remarks to an assembly of the country’s majors, the BBC reported.