UN, EU to toughen fight after Paris attacks

The UN Security Council Friday urged its members to ramp up their fight against terrorists after the Paris attacks, as Europe said it would tighten border checks and Brussels issued its highest terror alert.
 
Hours after the UN Security Council passed the resolution authorising countries to "take all necessary measures" against Daesh, gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in Mali's capital, taking dozens of people hostage in a siege that left at least 27 dead.
 
The attack on Bamako's luxury Radisson Blu hotel added to fears about the global threat a week after attacks in Paris left 130 people dead, although there was no immediate confirmation of a link with Daesh.
 
In the European Union, ministers agreed to rush through reforms to the passport-free Schengen zone to tighten the bloc's borders, while Belgium raised its terror alert to the highest level as investigators charged more people over links to the Paris killings.
 
"The analysis shows a serious and imminent threat requiring specific security measures as well as detailed recommendations to the population," the OCAM crisis centre, which is part of the Belgian interior ministry, said in a statement.
 
Officials declined to add further details until later on Saturday "in order to allow ongoing judicial investigations to follow their course," the statement said.
 
The 28-year-old suspected ringleader of the Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian of Moroccan origin, is believed to have travelled to Syria to join Daesh and be trained as an operative in Europe.
 
News that he and another attacker were able to slip back into Europe from Syria, despite being the subject of international arrest warrants, has raised fears jihadists are taking advantage of the migrant crisis to carry out attacks.
 
In Syria, meanwhile, a monitoring group said at least 36 people were killed in air strikes by Russian and Syrian jets in eastern Deir Ezzor province, describing them as the heaviest in the region since the start of the civil war.
 
Russia pounds Syria
 
At the United Nations, Russia joined Western powers in backing the French-drafted text that authorises countries to "take all necessary measures" to fight Daesh and other extremist groups linked to Al-Qaeda.
 
Describing Daesh as a "global and unprecedented threat to international peace and security," the resolution calls for sanctions and urges countries to step up efforts to cut off the flow of foreign fighters to Iraq and Syria.
French President Francois Hollande welcomed the move, even though the text does not provide any legal basis for military action, saying it will "contribute to mobilising nations to eliminate Daesh".
 
French diplomats argue the measure will provide important international political support to the campaign, which has been ramped up since the attacks in Paris.
 
EU tightens borders
 
In Brussels, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said he and his EU counterparts agreed in crisis talks to "immediately" tighten checks on points of entry to the 26-country Schengen area.
 
Cazeneuve said the European Commission would present plans to introduce "obligatory checks at all external borders for all travellers," including EU citizens, by the year's end.
 
Previously, only non-EU nationals had their details checked against a database for terrorism and crime when they enter the Schengen area.
 
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said late Friday he was increasingly irritated that the EU was moving so slowly to secure its borders, adding the Netherlands was ready "to run the whole show" with other countries if necessary.
 

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