Excerpt:
The latest attack in France by a gunman who was known to be a potential threat has led to renewed focus on how the country keeps track of suspected Islamist extremists.
France’s interior ministry compiles something known as the “S file” (the “S” stands for security) which contains anyone suspected of being a radical, including potentially dangerous leftist and far-right activists.
There is also a separate list, the File for the Prevention of Terrorist Radicalisation (FSPRT), for people judged to be terror threats.
Radouane Lakdim, the gunman involved in last Friday’s shooting spree in the southern French towns of Carcassonne and Trebes, was listed in the S File in May 2014 and the FSPRT in September 2015.