In early October, French law enforcement arrested 12 people in two separate raids in southern France. All of the men were suspected of providing assistance to terrorists. The arrests highlighted concerns among Western intelligence officials that Al Qaeda and its regional franchises are turning to sympathizers with citizenship in the targeted countries for assistance infiltrating those countries, the Monitor reported.
On the same day as the arrests, France issued a warning to its citizens traveling to Britain because it believed that a terrorist attack on public transportation or a tourist site was likely. A few days before that, the US issued an alert for Western Europe, the Monitor reported.
