France's conservative government unveiled new counterterrorism measures on Wednesday to punish those who visit extremist websites or travel to weapons-training camps abroad, in the wake of killings by an suspected Islamic extremist in southern France last month.
The measures now go to Parliament, where they may face resistance from the Socialists, who say France's legal arsenal against terrorism is already strong enough and that the proposal is a campaign ploy to boost President Nicolas Sarkozy's chances at a second term. Sarkozy's cabinet gave its go-ahead to measures that would make it illegal to travel abroad to "indoctrination and weapons-training camps for terrorist ends" or to regularly visit websites that incite or praise deadly terrorism.
Sarkozy's government insists the measures are needed to fight the relatively new phenomenon of "lone wolf" terrorism by extremists who self-radicalise online via jihadist Web sites, and are hard for authorities to track. Another proposal would make it possible to use anti-terror laws to prosecute those seeking to recruit terrorists, even if their recruiting efforts fail.
The measures come amid the hyper-charged political atmosphere ahead of France's presidential and legislative elections in the coming weeks. Even the proposal's proponents admit they may not be taken up before elections reshape the National Assembly in June.
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