CNN Breaking: Paris train stations evacuated because of bomb threat

CNN reports that a bomb thread has shutdown all trains in Paris... will post a link when it emerges.

On Edit - LINK:

If memory serves, the RER is the main Parisian commuter rail; it connects to the Metro at major stations...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-04-08-paris-bomb-threat_x.htm

Paris train stations evacuated because of bomb alert

PARIS (AP) — Several Paris train stations were evacuated and traffic stopped Thursday evening because of a bomb alert, police said.

Traffic on the RER-A line that crosses the French capital and links it to the suburbs was interrupted at 8:15 p.m., police said. Main stations and interconnections were evacuated to allow officers to search, police said.

:shrug:

we did enough nonsense like that in Vietnam, prior to troops going in, that I no longer hear of things like car-bombs without suspecting CIA spooks FIRST

sad....

CIA warns France of bomb threat

Several Paris rail stations were evacuated on Thursday after the CIA warned of a possible bomb attack.
Police said the CIA had told the French authorities of an anonymous message they had received warning of a possible attack between 1830 and 1930 GMT.

Traffic on the suburban RER line was halted and a number of stations were cleared in response to the tip-off.

The alert was lifted around 1930 GMT after police searches on the affected rail line found nothing suspicious.

...snip...

France has been on high alert since the 11 March train bombings in Madrid, which killed 191 people.

A number of threats have been made to French interests in recent weeks.

Last month a railway worker found a bomb buried on the main train line between Paris and Switzerland.

French authorities have also received threats in letters from a self-professed Islamic group, whose authenticity is



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3612817.stm


on edit: the CIA warning is also on CNN, off Associated Press

same old same old

might help counteract the spin over Spain's elections, though, if they can demonstrate that "al qaeda" targets countries that are NOT in Iraq

can't fool me

the French troops out of Iraq also ?

The bomb threats are likely related to the recent French ban on Islamic headscarves, and other religious apparel, in public schools.

is someone just trying to get attention. Something fun to do on a Thursday night.

Since most of the French take Good Friday off, as well as Easter Monday.

Rice's testimony down the memory hole. Well, this looks like a start. And there is the story about Iraqis being warned to not go out tomorrow.

More LIHOP/MIHOP distractions?

Stations often adjacent to the Metro.

There was also some sorta somethinsomethin at Atlanta Airport, too. It was evacuated a while ago.

www.talkingpointsmemo.com

"Suspicious package" at the Starbucks!

I do believe. I know one would take an RER train to get to Euro Disney. The trains run through the same train stations as the Metro trains do.

They're the Gare d'Austerlitz (13th), Gare de l'Est (10th), Gare de Lyon (12th), Gare Montparnasse (15th), Gare du Nord (10th), and Gare Saint-Lazare (8th). (I've noted the arrondissements.)

RER-A serves Gare Saint-Lazare and Gare de Lyon. Gare Montparnasse is the only one not served by an RER line.

Gare d’Austerlitz serves southern France, Spain and Portugal.

Gare d’Est serves Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

Gare de Lyon serves the south-east of France, Italy and Switzerland.

Gare du Nord serves Belgium, holland, Scandinavia, Germany, the north of France, and Britain’s ferry entry ports of Calais and Boulogne. Eurostar trains also arrive via the Channel Tunnel, at Gare du Nord.

Gare St Lazare serves Britain’s entry ports of Dieppe and Le Harve.


(The grey lines mark arrondissement boundaries and the blue is the Seine.)

I was visiting one of my sisters who lives in Amsterdam and took a day trip to Paris on one those Thalys trains that took me through Belgium to the Gare Du Nord train station in Paris. On the way back from Amsterdam we had to take a detour near the Schipol Airport stop to return to Central Station in Amsterdam due to a bomb threat near there. I arrived an hour late and the detour wasnt all that far from my final destination. Anyways there were armed military looking people all over the bus station in Paris that day.

... and even then, as always, I was surprised and taken a bit aback by the constant presence of armed military at train stations, and outside of Metro entrances.

to foil terrorists

...on vacation with her husband. I hope they're nowhere near the train stations......

... you're likely very near to train stations. In fact, the trains in Paris are so efficient, easy, clean and organized that tourists absolutely depend on them.

This is likely nothing at all, CO Liberal... the French police are just being vigilant. Your coworker will be ok. :-)

She's a real neat lady......

There's RER A,B,C, and D if I remember right. Which one is RER-A?

I think I used the C line to get from Gare du Nord to Gare Lyon on my way to the Riviera a few weeks ago.

Or Disneyland Paris, or whatever they're calling it now...

It goes through Gare de Lyon and Charles DeGaulle-Etoile, one of the major metro stops

that there is nothing to this threat?

maybe I'm just naive, but people on this board amaze me that they think EVERYTHING is either a ruse or is CIA instigated.

just a reminder...there ARE Islamic Fundamentalists in this world who do want to harm "decadent" westerners.

I think DU loses much credibility by so many who immediately refuse to acknowledge that terrorism is an issue in this world, and that terrorists actually DO act.

As far as France...there were lots of people who were upset about the head scarf ban, and who knows (I don't, and I don't think people here know, either) whether or not there was an actual threat.

"terrorists" to do this. This has right wing written all over it. Strictly a 'look what happens if you are "soft" on terrorism' con job.

and about the headscarf ban, and the intense feelings among some about that headscarf as a sign of a belief system, and thus the idea that France is not allowing some the freedom of their religion?

You do know, I assume, that it is widely ackownledged that there are terrorist groups in nearly every country in the world, and that bin Laden did declare a jihad in 1998.

Again, it amazes me that there are so many experts on DU, who know all about every terrorist cell around the world.

n/t.

in the afternoon CIA sent an information from Spain about a threat between 7:30 and 8:30 pm.