France rejects 3,500 Olympics jobseekers over security risks including 130 on TERROR blacklist after ISIS threats

FRANCE has rejected 3,500 Olympics jobseekers over security risks and terrorism threats.

The country is on high alert as Paris prepares to open the River Seine on July 26 with a 45,000-strong security force after ISIS threatened chilling attacks in an appalling poster message.

AFP

France has denied thousands of jobseekers ahead of the Olympic Games in Paris[/caption]

AFP

The French capital will host millions of visitors when the Games begin on July 26[/caption]

AP

A first in modern Olympic history, the opening ceremony will take place along the Seine[/caption]

Some 130 of the denied applicants were also on the government’s “Fiche S,” a watchlist for terrorist suspects and threats to national security.

Dozens of people with ties to radical Islamists, or the ultra-Left and ultra-Right, were also turned down, said Gérald Darmanin, France’s interior minister.

He added the government conducted hundreds of thousands of investigations to screen applicants who posed a risk to the games and to national security, The Telegraph reports.

Mr Darmanin said: “770,000 administrative investigations have been carried out to date, resulting in the exclusion of 3,570 people.”

Accreditations and security clearance to enter sensitive areas will be granted to nearly a million people, including athletes, trainers, journalists, volunteers, and private security guards, during the Paris Olympics and Paralympics.

During the games, a strong security force of 30,000–45,000 police and gendarmes will be deployed around the capital.

Unlike other Olympic tournaments, several of the competitions will take place in close proximity to iconic sites in the city centre, as opposed to stadiums outside the city, which pose significant security problems.

Extra caution will also be exercised during the opening ceremony on July 26, which will take place on the River Seine for the first time in modern Olympic history.

Prior to the grand opening, the riverfront will be turned into a high-security zone, with locals and guests needing to show a security code at checkpoints to prove their identity and authorization to enter.

Reuters

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said authorities carried out thousands of investigations to screen applicants who posed a security threat[/caption]

raud

This terrifying poster was the latest ISIS threat made against the Paris Olympics[/caption]

The chilling propaganda poster was released by the Islamic death cult

The organisers had been troubled in the lead-up to the games by worries of a significant shortage of security personnel.

The French Federation for Private Security (FFSP) reported in April that they were still in need of 8,000 agents. The shortage was down to 1,000 agents as of last week.

“We are operating at full speed in terms of recruitment and training.” Pierre Brajeux, president of the FFSP, told news channel France Info.

France has been on high alert since March, when the Islamic State claimed responsibility for a terrorist attack that killed 145 people in a Russian concert hall.

In June, ISIS threatened chilling attacks on the upcoming Olympics in an appalling poster message.

The death cult posted a propaganda image showing one of its terrorists seemingly flying an “armed drone” to attack the iconic Eiffel Tower.

The poster, pushed by ISIS-linked social media channels, was captioned: “Lone wolves’ Olympics have begun with the Will of Allah.”

The chilling threat vaguely indicates there could be attempts to carry out lone-wolf-style terror attacks across Paris amid the upcoming games.

The Paris Olympics chief since promised a ring of steel at the opening ceremony amid fears it may have to be moved due to terror threats.

French intelligence agents have also foiled terror plots targeting the Paris Olympics earlier this month.

They have been linked to an Afghanistan-based off-shoot of IS.

The Games are due to open on July 26 and millions of visitors, including many from Britain, are expected to flood into the French capital. 

Mr Darmanin said at the time that “several arrests”  had been made in connection with at least two separate cases.

He added: “They are being handed over to the justice authorities.”

An investigating source said the plot was foiled by the General Directorate of Internal Security, saying it was working “night and day to ensure the safety of Olympics spectators”.

The source added  those arrested are believed to be connected to  Afghan organisation Khorasan, which has ties to IS.

The Islamic extremist group was blamed for the  suicide bomb attack on the Stade de France, focal point of this year’s Olympics, in November 2015.

The Olympics will be kicking off in just a few days, but it is feared France’s political upheaval could cause chaos – with violent protests and burning buildings as the country elected a new leader.

Oxford Professor of Modern History Mark Almond told The Sun on Sunday earlier this month: “The radical Left and radical Right are facing up to each other.

“There is a long history of violence on both sides so it’s almost certain there will be trouble come tomorrow.

“In the weeks before the Olympics there could be a very unstable ­situation, all sorts of clashes, with a racial tinge.

“The majority of Muslims and recent arrivals are not going to be happy about any Le Pen win, and there is already discontent in outlying Paris because of poverty.

“Some of those suburbs are close to the Olympic venues, so we could see sports reports featuring smoke in the background from burning tyres or buildings.”

Reuters

French police officers stand guard, near the Olympic rings which are displayed for the Paris 2024 Summer Games[/caption]