France rejects 3,500 Olympics jobseekers over security risks including 130 on TERROR blacklist after ISIS threats
FRANCE has rejected 3,500 Olympics jobseekers over security risks and terrorism threats.
The country is on high alert as Paris prepares to open the River Seine on July 26 with a 45,000-strong security force after ISIS threatened chilling attacks in an appalling poster message.
Some 130 of the denied applicants were also on the government’s “Fiche S,” a watchlist for terrorist suspects and threats to national security.
Dozens of people with ties to radical Islamists, or the ultra-Left and ultra-Right, were also turned down, said Gérald Darmanin, France’s interior minister.
He added the government conducted hundreds of thousands of investigations to screen applicants who posed a risk to the games and to national security, The Telegraph reports.
Mr Darmanin said: “770,000 administrative investigations have been carried out to date, resulting in the exclusion of 3,570 people.”
Accreditations and security clearance to enter sensitive areas will be granted to nearly a million people, including athletes, trainers, journalists, volunteers, and private security guards, during the Paris Olympics and Paralympics.
During the games, a strong security force of 30,000–45,000 police and gendarmes will be deployed around the capital.
Unlike other Olympic tournaments, several of the competitions will take place in close proximity to iconic sites in the city centre, as opposed to stadiums outside the city, which pose significant security problems.
Extra caution will also be exercised during the opening ceremony on July 26, which will take place on the River Seine for the first time in modern Olympic history.
Prior to the grand opening, the riverfront will be turned into a high-security zone, with locals and guests needing to show a security code at checkpoints to prove their identity and authorization to enter.
The organisers had been troubled in the lead-up to the games by worries of a significant shortage of security personnel.
The French Federation for Private Security (FFSP) reported in April that they were still in need of 8,000 agents. The shortage was down to 1,000 agents as of last week.
“We are operating at full speed in terms of recruitment and training.” Pierre Brajeux, president of the FFSP, told news channel France Info.
France has been on high alert since March, when the Islamic State claimed responsibility for a terrorist attack that killed 145 people in a Russian concert hall.
In June, ISIS threatened chilling attacks on the upcoming Olympics in an appalling poster message.
The death cult posted a propaganda image showing one of its terrorists seemingly flying an “armed drone” to attack the iconic Eiffel Tower.
The poster, pushed by ISIS-linked social media channels, was captioned: “Lone wolves’ Olympics have begun with the Will of Allah.”
The chilling threat vaguely indicates there could be attempts to carry out lone-wolf-style terror attacks across Paris amid the upcoming games.
The Paris Olympics chief since promised a ring of steel at the opening ceremony amid fears it may have to be moved due to terror threats.
French intelligence agents have also foiled terror plots targeting the Paris Olympics earlier this month.
They have been linked to an Afghanistan-based off-shoot of IS.
The Games are due to open on July 26 and millions of visitors, including many from Britain, are expected to flood into the French capital.
Mr Darmanin said at the time that “several arrests” had been made in connection with at least two separate cases.
He added: “They are being handed over to the justice authorities.”
An investigating source said the plot was foiled by the General Directorate of Internal Security, saying it was working “night and day to ensure the safety of Olympics spectators”.
The source added those arrested are believed to be connected to Afghan organisation Khorasan, which has ties to IS.
The Islamic extremist group was blamed for the suicide bomb attack on the Stade de France, focal point of this year’s Olympics, in November 2015.
The Olympics will be kicking off in just a few days, but it is feared France’s political upheaval could cause chaos – with violent protests and burning buildings as the country elected a new leader.
Oxford Professor of Modern History Mark Almond told The Sun on Sunday earlier this month: “The radical Left and radical Right are facing up to each other.
“There is a long history of violence on both sides so it’s almost certain there will be trouble come tomorrow.
“In the weeks before the Olympics there could be a very unstable situation, all sorts of clashes, with a racial tinge.
“The majority of Muslims and recent arrivals are not going to be happy about any Le Pen win, and there is already discontent in outlying Paris because of poverty.
“Some of those suburbs are close to the Olympic venues, so we could see sports reports featuring smoke in the background from burning tyres or buildings.”
Terrorist threat 'acute' across Europe
By Jessica Baker, Foreign News Reporter
THE threat of terrorism to the security of Europe is “acute”, the EU’s law enforcement agency warns.
Europol said the top concern of EU countries is “jihadist terrorism” and foreign terrorist fighters who travel from conflict zones.
Some fear the terror group ISIS could be looking to leverage conflict in the Middle East to launch a fresh of attacks across Europe.
Ten jihadist attacks have been foiled by cops in Europe in the past 12 months alone, according to Dutch intelligence agency AIVD.
The agency claimed attacks planned and intercepted included stabbing rampages at major events and assaults on specific groups and venues.
Israel’s spy agency meanwhile alleged Iranian terror cells are plotting attacks across the continent ahead of the Paris Olympics.
The Olympics chief has promised a ring of steel at the Games’ opening ceremony and insisted “security is the priority” to ensure the safety of an expected 15 million fans and more than 10,000 athletes.