Saturday, November 21, 2015

Greece: 'Nearly impossible' to find jihadists among migrants

Lesbos (Greece) (AFP) - As the hunt for jihadists widens after last week's Paris attacks, authorities in Greece warn it was virtually impossible to pick out dangerous extremists among arriving migrants, without prior intelligence.

"If they are not already registered in the database, it's nearly impossible," says Dimitris Amountzias, police captain in charge of Moria, Greece's main registration camp on the island of Lesbos.

At the camp, dozens of migrants and refugees queue to give their fingerprints, have a photo taken and be quizzed by agents from European border agency Frontex.

It's a seemingly detailed security check, but jihadists have already proven they can bypass it with ease.

The suspected architect of the Paris attacks that killed 130 people, 28-year-old Abdelhamid Abaaoud, escaped from Europe to Syria and returned without being detected.

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