PARIS France, beefing up world cup security after a Europe-wide swoop on suspected terrorists, Wednesday decided to send 1,000 extra troops onto the streets to avert the threat of attacks. The Interior Ministry said that as the World Cup approaches, extra military personnel will from today boost the security system in place. An extra 1,000 men will be added immediately to the 860 soldiers already assigned to watch over ports, airports, railway stations and busy public places, alongside police and paramilitary squads, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry provided no details on the number of police and other security personnel taking part in surveillance ahead of the showcase soccer tournament, but sources said they would run into thousands. Interior Minister Jean-Pierre Chevenement will provide details next week. A vast Europe-wide anti-terror swoop ahead of the four-yearly World Cup netted top suspects Tuesday believed to have been setting up a new fundamentalist terror network targetting France. Two weeks before the June 10 kick off of the soccer finals, hundreds of police acting in coordination in five countries Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland brought in nearly 100 suspects along with large amounts of money and documents.

Chevenement told reporters Wednesday that the pan-European police operation was not purely preventive but that there were sufficiently serious elements for us to act in advance. A string of terror attacks in France in 1995 and 1996 left 13 people dead and some 200 injured. The Interior Ministry said the 1,860 troops would be deployed in priority in the 10 cities, including Paris, playing host to the 32 teams and two million foreigners expected for the June 10 - July 12 event.

(AFP)