French PM warns of risk of chemical attack

PARIS: Prime Minister Manuel Valls warned Thursday that France was at risk of a chemical or biological weapons attack, as lawmakers voted to extend a state of emergency imposed after the Paris carnage.

The fate of the suspected mastermind of Friday´s attacks was still uncertain after a huge police raid in a northern district of the French capital on Wednesday that left at least two people dead.

Also read: Abaaoud linked to four French attack plots this year: Minister

Prosecutor Francois Molins said the raid in Saint-Denis had stopped a "new team of terrorists" who were ready to launch another attack in a city still mourning 129 dead, and they believed that senior Islamic State operative Abaaoud was at the building.

At least two other people were killed in the ferocious shootout, including what is thought to be a woman who detonated an explosives vest.

Valls warned of the dangers still faced by France as he opened a parliamentary debate that later saw lawmakers extend an extraordinary package of security measures for three months.

"We must not rule anything out," Valls said. "There is also the risk from chemical or biological weapons."

He called on France´s European Union partners to urgently adopt measures to share airline passenger information.

"More than ever, it´s time for Europe to adopt the text... to guarantee the traceability of movements, including within the union. It´s a condition of our collective security," he said.

The state of emergency will be in place for three months from November 26 after lawmakers approved the extension.

US warned IS was capable of Paris attack in May

US intelligence meanwhile published a report showing it warned in May that IS was capable of carrying out the kind of large-scale coordinated attacks seen in Paris.

The assessment from the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, in coordination with the FBI, specifically refers to Abaaoud as a ringleader of Belgian plotters and warned Europe was more at risk of attack than the United States.

Abaaoud was previously thought to be in Syria after fleeing raids in his native Belgium earlier this year.

IS released a new video threatening New York, and specifically Times Square, although police said there was no "current and specific" threat.

Hours after President Francois Hollande had urged the nation not to resort to anti-Muslim or anti-Semitic reprisals in the wake of the attacks, a Jewish teacher was stabbed and wounded in Marseille by three people shouting anti-Semitic obscenities and expressing support for IS.

France is coming to terms with being attacked for a second time in less than year. In January, jihadist gunmen killed 17 people at Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine, on the streets and in a Jewish supermarket.

Citing security fears, the government has cancelled two mass rallies scheduled for November 29 and December 12 - the days before and after a key UN climate summit to be held outside Paris.