MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2015 ANALYSIS

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Focus New York, Paris: United by trauma 14 years apart

By Brigitte Dusseau

nited by the trauma of terrorism, 14 years apart, New York and Paris have exhibited the same fortitude and Udetermination to overcome the tears and fears with love, life and laughter. Experts say this is the best possible response to such horrors. Psychologists who have studied the effects of the 9/11 attacks on New York say that most people, including those directly exposed, will be ok and few experience prolonged symptoms of trauma. But in the very short term, the vast majority of people “directly exposed to this kind of event will show consider- able distress,” said George Bonanno, clinical psychology pro- fessor at Teachers College, Columbia University who heads the Loss, Trauma and Emotion Lab. The co-author of a study on the psychological effects of the 2001 attacks over a Europe missed many ‘red flags’ decade, he said this first response is healthy and natural. “It means that your stress response is working,” he told AFP. Trouble sleeping, bursting into tears, anxiety, feeling low and being sensitive to particular noises and memories are By John Irish, Robert-Jan Bartunek Charles Michel defended his country’s After a raid in January in the Belgian returned to Europe by an unknown lum in Serbia, counter-intelligence typical symptoms. “The stress response is wonderfully and Orhan Coskun security services and praised them for town of Verviers, police suspected the route and evaded police even though and security sources said. adapted, it is conserved by evolution,” said Bonanno, doing “a difficult and tough job.” 28-year-old of plotting to kidnap a the Belgian Justice Ministry said The French prosecutor has con- explaining that it allows people to move onto the second here were multiple chances to French President Francois Hollande police officer and kill him. In February, microphones had been placed at the firmed that fingerprints taken on stage of recovery and adapting to a new reality. “It doesn’t stop the men who attacked also praised his country’s security serv- Abaaoud said in an interview with an house where he was thought to be arrival in Greece showed that man mean the person has gone crazy or even has a disorder or TParis. In January, Turkish authori- ices, who hunted down and shot dead Islamic State magazine that he had staying. travelled with a second man, who also has PTSD,” said Douglas Mennin of Hunter College. ties detained one of the suicide the man they identified as the ring- returned to Syria after the raid in Then there’s the case of Sami blew himself up near the Stade de Trauma normally dissipates in a couple of weeks or bombers at Turkey’s border and leader, , five Verviers. By this time, he knew he was Amimour. French authorities had France. The pair may have reached months. For only a small percentage of people - fewer than deported him to Belgium. Brahim days after the attacks. being sought. launched an official investigation into Paris relatively easily because, at the 10 percent - difficulties are more serious and last longer. On Abdeslam, Turkish authorities told Europol, the European Union’s If it is true that he returned to Syria Amimour’s possible terrorism-related height of the migration crisis in the bright, pristine morning of September 11, 2001, some Belgian police at the time, had been police agency, says it has been feeding from Verviers, Abaaoud made his way activity in Oct 2012. Prosecutors sus- Europe this year, asylum seekers were 2,700 people were killed when Al-Qaeda hijackers flew two “radicalised” and was suspected of information to the Belgian and French back into Europe at some point after pected him of planning to join mili- rushed across some national borders passenger jets into the Twin Towers in Manhattan, destroy- wanting to join Islamic State in Syria, a authorities but acknowledges that January. French authorities did not tants in Yemen. Amimour was a bus without checks. ing the buildings. Hundreds more were killed when planes Turkish security source told Reuters. some member states are better at know this until they were tipped off driver who had been radicalised in a It is unclear whether the passport were hijacked and crashed at the Pentagon just outside Yet during questioning in Belgium, sharing information than others. by Morocco after the attacks. “If mosque near his hometown of issued under the name of Ahmad Al- Washington and in Pennsylvania. Abdeslam denied any involvement Abaaoud was able to go from Syria to Drancy, north of Paris. Because of the Mohammad, a 25-year-old from the with militants and was set free. So was Focus On Fighters Europe, that means there are failings investigation, police had ordered Syrian city of Idlib, was genuine or was No New Psychiatric Cases his brother Salah - a decision that Returning From Syria in the entire European system,” French Amimour to check in with them every stolen from a refugee. Whatever the Afterward, 10,000 people were diagnosed with post- Belgian authorities say was based on The focus of investigators over the Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said. week. As reported by Reuters on Nov truth, it has helped fuel rightwing criti- traumatic stress. In the Paris gun and suicide attacks, 130 scant evidence that either man had past few years has been men and 20, he missed four weekly checks in cism in Europe of the number of people were killed and several hundred others wounded. In terrorist intentions. women who have grown up in Warnings 2013. But it was only after nearly a migrants allowed in this year. By the New York, those who lived close to the World Trade Center, On Nov 13, Abdeslam blew himself Europe, have European passports and Mostefai, the suicide month that the authorities put out an time the two men were making their the first responders, family members of the victims or those up at Le Comptoir Voltaire bar in Paris, who travel to Syria to train and fight. bomber, also travelled back and forth. international arrest warrant. way up through the Balkans to west- with a good view of the skyscrapers, even at a distance, killing himself and wounding one oth- As the number of those fighters has Although he had eight convictions as By then Amimour was already in ern Europe, France had received more were the worst affected. “That’s where you found higher er. Salah is also a suspect in the increased, authorities have struggled a petty criminal, he had never been in Syria. His tracks were picked up a year evidence an attack was imminent. incidents of depression and anxiety following these events,” attacks, claimed by the Islamic State, to keep up. The French Interior prison, a place French authorities can later, in Dec 2014, when his father French former anti-terrorism judge said Anne Marie Albano, director of Columbia University’s and is now on the run. In France, an “S” Ministry estimated about 500 French watch for signs of radicalisation. Police gave an interview to French daily Le Marc Trevidic says a French Islamist he Clinic for Anxiety and Related Disorders. (State Security) file for people suspect- nationals had travelled to Syria and say they suspected him of being in Monde describing how he had trav- questioned on his return from Syria in But other than those directly affected and those who ed of being a threat to national securi- August said Islamic State had asked suffered from pre-existing disorders “we didn’t find... new ty had been issued on Ismail Omar him to carry out an attack on a concert cases of psychiatric illness like new cases of depression or Mostefai, who would detonate his venue. “The guy admitted that he was PTSD or anxiety,” she said. “This will be likely the same in explosive vest inside Paris’ Bataclan asked to hit a rock concert. We didn’t Paris.” New York experts praise the resilience of Parisians, the concert hall. Mostefai, a Frenchman of know if it would be Bataclan or anoth- spontaneous vigils and determination to carry on normal Algerian descent, was placed on the er, he didn’t know the exact location life. They also praise the French authorities for keeping them list in 2010, French police sources say. that would be designated. But yes, well informed. “People need clear, accurate information and Turkish police also considered him that’s what they asked him to do,” they need to trust this information,” said Bonanno. Flowers, a terror suspect with links to Islamic Trevidic told Reuters. candles, photographs, memorials and ceremonies “can be State. Ankara wrote to Paris about him Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Al- very healing,” said Albano. Bonanno agreed: “People need in Dec 2014 and in June this year, a Jaafari has also said that his country’s each other.” Albano said there were a whole host of initia- senior Turkish government official intelligence services shared informa- tives in New York after Sept 11, including in schools. said. The warning went unheeded. tion indicating that France, as well as Paris answered last week, after the the United States and Iran, was being Returning to Cafes attacks. A fourth attacker missed at This combination of photos made in Paris shows the suspected mastermind of the Nov 13, targeted for attack. He has not given “Kids and people should express themselves and do least four weekly check-ins with 2015 Paris attacks, 28-year-old Belgian IS group leading militant Abdelhamid Abaaoud (cen- details. Germany’s top prosecutor is something that is within their means and appropriate to French police in 2013, before authori- ter), Frenchman Bilal Hadfi (left) one of the suicide bombers who blew himself outside the also investigating allegations that an their age to feel that they are part of the solution,” she said. ties issued an arrest warrant for him. stadium, Samy Amimour (right), one of the suicide bombers who attacked a Algerian man detained at a refugee Experts also say it is vital to resume normal life as soon as By that time he had left the country. Paris concert hall, suspect at large French Salah Abdeslam (second right), and an unidentified centre in the western town of possible. Take up sport or yoga, go back to concerts and On any one of these occasions, man (second left) suspected of being involved in the attacks. —AFP Arnsberg told Syrian refugees an cafes, meet friends. “The idea is to be around people who police, intelligence and security servic- attack was imminent in the French anchor them,” said Mennin. And to avoid media overexpo- es had an opportunity to detain at almost 300 had returned. French Syria between late 2013 and early elled to Syria but failed to convince his capital. sure. least some of the men who launched authorities reckon up to 1,400 people 2014, before returning to France son to return. Europe is scrambling to respond to Is it necessary to immediately consult a therapist? the attacks. That they did not, helps need 24-hour surveillance. Yet France unnoticed. In December of last year, the attacks. France declared a nation- Absolutely not - unless someone wants to, experts recom- explain how a group of Islamist mili- has only about the same number of Turkey contacted France about The Men from the Bar wide state of emergency which will mended. In the United States after 9/11, it was thought best tants was able to organise even as officers to carry out the task, a tenth of Mostefai. They raised an alarm again in Police are still looking for Salah now last three months. Police now to talk, relive the memories as quickly as possible in order to they moved freely among countries those needed. June 2015 by letter. Abdeslam, who is known to have sur- have the power to conduct searches conquer them. Experience shows it is counterproductive, within the open borders of Europe’s Some 350 people from Belgium There was no response from vived the attacks. Until six weeks without obtaining judicial warrants and possibly even dangerous, to fuel anxieties that may not passport-free Schengen area and have gone to Syria to fight - the high- French authorities, according to a sen- before the attacks, Salah and his and can hold anyone suspected of even be real. “Human beings are profoundly resilient,” said beyond. Taken one by one, each mis- est per capita number in Europe. A ior Turkish government official and a brother Brahim - one of the suicide posing a threat to security under Bonanno. step has its own explanation, security Belgian government source said security source. “It seemed there was a bombers - were running a bar called house arrest for 12 hours a day. New York continues to commemorate Sept 11 on each services say. They attribute the lapses Belgium has a list of 400 people who connection between this person and Les Beguines on a quiet street in Internet sites deemed to incite or anniversary, reading out the names the victims and shin- in communication, inability to keep are in Syria, have returned or are Daesh (Islamic State) and we reported Molenbeek, a low-rent area of advocate “acts of terrorism” can be ning beams of light from the site of the lost towers into the track of suspected militants and failure believed to be about to go there. it,” the Turkish security source said. “We which has been linked with several blocked and public demonstrations sky. But New Yorkers have moved past the trauma, said to act on intelligence, to a lack of There are another 400-500 people followed all international procedures. attacks. After the attacks, Salah banned. Mennin. “The Twin Towers were part of our skyline, of our resources in some countries and a who authorities believe have radi- But they (the French) didn’t display the Abdeslam went to ground. Authorities Belgium has also announced a identity. We moved on, and incorporated the event in our surge in the number of would-be calised. The number of people in the same level of sensitivity.” French offi- say he was stopped on his way back to security crackdown, saying it will narrative. I do believe Paris will do the same,” he added. “We jihadis. Belgian security services carrying out cials declined to comment on this, but Belgium after the Paris attacks, but spend an extra 400 million euros have a healthy respect for that day, it keeps our awareness, But a close examination by Reuters surveillance is believed to be consider- say that coordination with Turkey over police waved him on. It is not clear ($430 million) on security and take that yes these things can happen,” said Albano. “But we also of a series of missed red flags and mis- ably fewer than this. potential French jihadis has improved what role he played on the night of measures such as stopping the sale of have a healthy respect for living life, and not giving into ter- communications culminating in The numbers partially explain why markedly in the past year. the attacks and why he managed to mobile phone cards to anonymous rorism.” —AFP France’s biggest atrocity since World many of the attackers in Paris were Determining how dangerous a survive. buyers. Police will be allowed to con- War Two puts on stark display the well-known faces still at large. The person is, and whether they might car- Two men who were arrested later, duct night searches of homes and it is mounting difficulties faced by anti-ter- attacks killed 130 people at various ry out an attack, is a key challenge for Mohamed Amri, 27, and 21-year-old now easier to ban, convict or expel rorism units across Europe and their locations, including the Bataclan con- security services, experts say. “The oth- Hamza Attou, said they brought hate preachers. All articles appearing on these future ability to keep the continent cert hall where 89 concert-goers were er difficulty is that if you have nothing Abdeslam back to Brussels after Whether such measures will be safe. “We’re in a situation where the gunned down or blown up. Others concrete for several years, you can’t receiving a call from him saying his car enough is uncertain. Brussels is on pages are the personal opinion of services are overrun. They expect were killed outside the Stade de keep either a sophisticated technical had broken down. Police checks high alert this weekend because of the writers. Kuwait Times takes no something to happen, but don’t know France sports stadium and in bars and alert system or human resources on a meant they were pulled over three what authorities there called the “seri- responsibility for views expressed where,” said Nathalie Goulet, who restaurants around central Paris. Seven person who makes himself forgotten times, including a last check around 9 ous and imminent” threat of attack. In therein. Kuwait Times invites read- heads up the French Senate’s investi- assailants died during the attacks. for three or four years,” said Arnaud am near just short of the a video last week, Islamic State gation committee into jihadi net- Abaaoud was killed in a police raid Danjean, a former intelligence officer Belgian border. warned it would strike again. “When a ers to voice their opinions. Please works. north of Paris on Wednesday along and now a member of the European Missteps did not just happen in large operation is prepared, they are send submissions via email to: opin- Many point to Belgium as a weak with one other suicide attacker and a Parliament. France and Belgium. The Syrian pass- told to keep a low profile in the [email protected] or via snail link in European security. “They simply woman believed to be his cousin. Bilal Hadfi, who blew himself up port found near one of the suicide months before. As they are no don’t have the same means as Britain’s Dozens of people have also been outside the Stade de France, was bombers at the Stade de France had longer on police radars, it’s like look- mail to PO Box 1301 Safat, Kuwait. MI5 or the DGSI (French intelligence detained, some with weapons and another of the suicide attackers under been used by a man registering him- ing for a needle in a haystack,” said The editor reserves the right to edit agency),” said Louis Caprioli, a former explosives, in raids since then. surveillance. After visiting Syria in self as a refugee on the Greek island of Roland Jacquard, president of the any submission as necessary. head of the DST, France’s former anti- Abaaoud himself had been well- February, the 20-year-old French Leros on Oct 3. That man travelled Paris-based International Terrorism terrorism unit. Belgian Prime Minister known to authorities for several years. national, who was living in Belgium, through Macedonia and claimed asy- Observatory. —Reuters