Hunt for Paris suspects expands in Switzerland
GENEVA -- Geneva police were "actively searching" for suspects in connection with an investigation into the Paris attacks last month, Swiss security officials said Thursday.
Geneva's security department said that city authorities received word on Wednesday that Swiss federal authorities had flagged "suspicious individuals who could be in Geneva or the Geneva region."
Police were also increasing their counterterrorism vigilance level, and were working with international and national authorities to locate the suspects, the statement said. It didn't specify how many people were being sought or provide their identities.
Authorities were increasing police deployments in Geneva. The U.N. office in Geneva was also increasing its security precautions in connection with the enhanced measures by city police.
The Nov. 13 attacks on Paris, claimed by the Islamic State group, left 130 people dead and hundreds of others wounded. Salah Abdeslam, a fugitive suspected in the deadly attacks in Paris, is still at large. Several arrests were made in Belgium following the attacks.
Meanwhile a key committee of EU lawmakers has voted in favor of a new scheme to track extremist fighters, paving the way for the long-delayed system to be approved early next year.
The European Parliament Civil Liberties committee voted 38-19 Thursday to approve the airline passenger information system, with two abstentions. It means that an endorsement in the plenary session in January or February is now a formality.
The lawmaker who chaperoned the plan through parliament, Timothy Kirkhope, said: "now we have to get this implemented."
The system has been held up in the assembly for more than two years but the deadly attacks last month in Paris brought new urgency to the process. The plan grants law enforcement agencies access to information about air travelers for at least six months.