Sources close to the Belgian probe into the terror cell that carried out the Paris and Brussels attacks have told French media that the jihadists "were intending to target this summer’s Euro 2016 football championships in France," according to THE LOCAL. The claim was made by Liberation newspaper, which stated that Mohamed Abrini -- the Paris attacks suspect arrested on Friday -- "admitted to investigators that their main target was not Brussels, but Euro 2016 in France." A statement from the federal prosecutor’s office said, "Numerous elements in the investigation have shown that the terrorist group initially had the intention to strike in France again." Prosecutors, however, did not reveal "any details" about the planned attack on France, but Liberation newspaper claims that Abrini, who was wanted for his suspected role in the Paris attacks, "confessed to investigators that Euro 2016 was the real target." If the claim is true, "it will be of deep concern to authorities in France, who are already on high alert and have long feared the tournament may be targeted." Last week Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and Health Minister Marisol Touraine "both assisted at an exercise at a fan zone in the western city of Bordeaux" which mobilized 600 fire fighters, police, army, and emergency services. Cazeneuve said, "We want Euro 2016 to take place in the best conditions and that's why we're multiplying exercises to test the systems put in place to quickly intervene in a context where the threat is extremely high." The scenario chosen in Bordeaux "was one where three armed terrorists were firing into the crowd waiting to enter the fan zone" (THE LOCAL, 4/11).
