The European Union Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove said recently that al-Qaeda may attempt to carry out a new terror attack in Europe to demonstrate that it still possesses the "leadership of global Jihad."
"There is a fierce competition between al-Qaeda and Daesh (the Arabic acronym for ISIL) over the leadership of global jihad. We may at some stage see al-Qaeda launching an attack in Europe or Africa to show that they are still relevant," he said at a conference in Brussels.
De Kerchove noted that the terror threat to Europe and the United States has become "much more complex" since the attacks of September 11, 2001. At that time, "we had an organization, al-Qaeda, structured like a multinational company."
With an estimated 5,000 European citizens traveling to ISIL-controlled territories in Iraq and Syria to train and fight alongside Islamic extremist groups, de Kerchove believes that the risks of lone wolf attacks on Europe stemming from their return have "increased significantly."
He said the EU must have "much more political engagement with the Gulf" states, some of whom have been accused of arming and financing radical Islamist groups, in the aims of anti-terrorism cooperation.
The EU official briefed Monday the European Parliament foreign affairs committee on the latest measures taken by the EU in its fight against terrorism.
With the threat of terrorism growing every day, the task of Gilles de Kerchove, the EU’s counter-terrorism coordinator, becomes increasingly more important. It’s his job to coordinate the Council's work in combating terrorism, keep an eye on all the instruments available to the EU and make policy recommendations.
De Kerchove warned that young Europeans "with no contact to terrorist organizations" who get radicalized online, in prison or by extremist imams in their home countries are also a threat to continental security, citing the terrorists who carried out attacks in Paris and Copenhagen earlier this year.
For him, preventing people joining jihadist groups and returning to Europe from committing terrorists attacks, ‘’ involves a lot of work around trying to promote prevention, especially the early detection of signs of radicalisation.’’
‘’It would be a mistake to send most of them to jail as it is a major incubator of radicalisation. If we can design a rehabilitation programme as an alternative to prosecution, then let’s do that. There should also be a similar programme for those who are already in prison,’’ he said.
‘’Part of the process is to find someone they trust and help them to reconnect to society. We also need to deconstruct the jihadist ideology, with internet being a huge challenge. Daech is very media savvy and they know how to win more support, so we need to develop a counter narrative and counter messages,’’ he added.
The EU anti-terror chief believes that the European Parliament has a ‘’very critical role’’ to play in the fight against terrorism. ‘’Not only as the co-legislator, but also in the social response needed in order to promote tolerance and fight anti-Semitism and Muslim-bashing.’’