London: French First Lady Carla Bruni's security has been stepped up in the wake of intelligence inputs that she may be a "priority target" of terror group al-Qaeda's assassination plot, a media report said. Security services believe President Nicolas Sarkozy's 42-year-old wife is now "high up" on the al-Qaeda hitlist of potential VIP victims in France, the 'Daily Mail' quoted the French website 'Pure People' as saying.
In fact, fears for Bruni's safety come after al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden issued a chilling personal threat to kill French citizens in revenge for France backing the war in Afghanistan and their new law banning the burqa. The al Qaeda chief released an audio tape last week: "It is a simple equation: If you kill, you will be killed."
The French website claimed it had information that the Presidential Protection Team had now received "credible intelligence" that the threat to the couple had increased.
"Security has always been high around the First couple, but we have learned that it has now been heavily increased around Ms Bruni herself. There is no question of her ever going out without an armed escort and details of all her movements are being kept secret until the very last moment.
"Her schedule is randomly changed and even her family and friends are not being told where she is going until she arrives. From now on, neither will she travel in the same car or other means of transport as her husband," the newspaper quoted the website as saying.
Bruni's immediate family including sister Valeria, mother Marisa, her nine-year-old son Aurelian, and the boy's father Raphael Enthoven were also being given extra security details, the website said.
It added: "Their movements and whereabouts are being kept secret at all times. It is inconvenient for Ms Bruni and her loved ones, but the security services believe these drastic measures are currently necessary for their safety."
The Elysee Palace, however, did not comment on details of security arrangements for the French first couple.
Comments
0 comment