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		</div><p>French authorities on Friday raised preliminary terrorism charges against an 18-year-old accused of a plot targeting spectators attending football games at the forthcoming Paris Olympics.</p>
<p>The interior minister said it was the first such thwarted plot targeting the Games, which start in eight weeks, as France is on its highest threat alert level.</p>
<p>The man is accused of planning a “violent action” on behalf of the so-called Islamic State group’s jihadist ideology, the national counterterrorism prosecutor’s office said in a statement.</p>
<p>The man, who was not identified, is being held in custody pending further investigation.</p>
<p>Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said in a statement that members of the General Directorate of Internal Security arrested an 18-year-old man from Chechnya on May 22nd on suspicion of being behind a plan to attack football events that will be held in the southern city of Saint-Etienne.</p>
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<figure id="attachment_182743" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-182743" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img src="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/B7D14AA8-61C4-474B-B81D-839DAF5F482F.webp" alt="" width="640" height="377" class="size-full wp-image-182743" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-182743" class="wp-caption-text">Police patrol near the Eiffel Tower in Paris</figcaption></figure>
<p>According to the initial investigation, the man was preparing an attack targeting the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium that will host several football matches during the Games.</p>
<p>The planned attack was to target spectators and police forces, the statement said. The man wanted to attack the Olympic events “to die and become a martyr”, the statement also said.</p>
<p>France is on its highest security alert ahead of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, which are expected to draw millions of visitors, and run from July 26th to August 11th.</p>
<p>Football matches will take place in cities across France before the final in Paris’ Stade de France.</p>
<p>Mr Darmanin did not cite a specific security threat against the football event, but has said there are multiple potential threats, including those from Islamic extremist groups, violent environmental activists, far-right groups and cyberattacks from Russia or other adversaries.</p>
<p>The Paris Olympics organising committee said it was made aware of the arrest and praised intelligence and security services.</p>
<p>“Security is the highest priority of Paris 2024. We are working daily in close co-ordination with the interior ministry and all stakeholders and will continue to be fully mobilised,” it said in a statement.</p>
<p>Security concerns are notably high for the exceptional opening ceremony, which will bring more than 100 world leaders to the French capital.</p>
<p>It involves boats carrying athletes along the Seine River in a 3.7-mile open-air parade and huge crowds watching from the embankments.</p>
<p>In April, French President Emmanuel Macron said the July 26 opening ceremony could be moved instead to the country’s national stadium if the security threat is deemed too high.</p>
<p>Organisers had originally planned to host as many as 600,000 people, most watching free of charge from riverbanks.</p>
<p>But security and logistical concerns have led the government to progressively scale back its ambitions. Earlier this year, the overall number of spectators was reduced to about 300,000.</p>
<p>The French government also decided that tourists will not be given free access to watch the opening ceremony because of security concerns. Free access will be invitation-only instead.</p>
<p>Extra security is also on hand for the Olympic torch relay, which passed on Friday through the monastery outcrop of Mont Saint-Michel, which draws thousands of tourists daily.</p>
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