Scene of police battle with Paris attack suspects

Abaaoud, 28, a Belgian national of Moroccan origins, is among the most notorious of the thousands of radicalized Europeans who have ventured to Syria to wage jihad. But he was practically hiding in plain sight.

Also Friday, the Paris prosecutor’s office announced that Hasna Ait Boulahcen, the woman found dead after Wednesday’s police raid in Saint-Denis, did not blow herself up in that raid as previously thought.

“It’s not about the flaws of one country or another, but a collective collapse”, said Jean-Charles Brisard, head of the French Center for Analysis of Terrorism, a think tank.

European Union interior and justice ministers gathering for an emergency meeting on how best to respond to the threat of violent extremism will hear urging from France and Belgium to tighten gun laws, toughen border security and choke off funds to extremist groups.

The security shortcomings have triggered much soul-searching in Europe, which is proving especially vulnerable to the turmoil radiating from the mayhem in Syria.

Outside of Brussels, the nation will maintain its current terrorism level. Border controls are temporarily reimposed to stop the perpetrators from escaping.

If it is true that he returned to Syria from Verviers, Abaaoud made his way back into Europe at a few point after January. Their passports, language skills and ability to meld into European society make them especially valued terrorist operatives, experts say.

The official, who can not be named because of Turkish government rules that bar officials from speaking to reporters without prior authorization, said in an emailed message: “We believe that Dahmani was in contact with the terrorists who perpetrated the Paris attacks”.

“We can’t say anything about the exact geographic situation of that individual”, he said.

The country’s authorities have used it to detain dozens of people, put more than 100 others under house arrest and seize an array of weapons.

The U.S. State Department advised Americans there to be cautious.

Meanwhile, in Mali, a 10-day state of emergency begins in the wake of Friday’s terrorist attack in the capital and Malian security forces continue to hunt “more than three” suspects.

Although he had eight convictions as a petty criminal, Mostefai apparently traveled back and forth from Syria without being spotted by authorities. Police later confirm that suspected mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud is also among the dead.

De Villiers said he had spoken to his Russian counterpart by phone to discuss their countries’ ships with regard to Syria but added that France had not “at this stage any coordination of strikes or identification of targets in consultation with the Russians, even if we have the same enemy Daesh”.

Paris – A week after the deadliest attacks on France in decades, shell-shocked Parisians honoured the 130 victims with candles and songs on Friday, knowing that at least one suspect is still at large and fearing that other militants could be slipping through Europe’s porous borders.

This footage, which places Abaaoud at the station soon after the first shootings but while the attack at the concert hall was still underway, has prompted speculation that he may have taken part directly in the attacks, and not just organised them.

Experts say the sheer number of potential extremist operatives and battle-hardened returnees from Syria means that resource-challenged European authorities must focus on those deemed most threatening.

Diesel, a French police dog, was also killed in the raid, which took place after Abaaoud was tracked by officers watching Aitboulahcen. At the time, Abdeslam had not yet surfaced as a possible participant.

Abdeslam, elder brother of fugitive Salah Abdeslam, blew himself up outside the cafe. Two of the suicide bombers, Brahim Abdeslam and Bilal Hadfi, lived in Brussels. He had been placed under judicial supervision but dropped off the radar and was the subject of an worldwide arrest warrant.