By Tangi Salaün

PARIS (Reuters) – Francois Hollande, the former French president, said Wednesday in court that there were intelligence deficiencies ahead of an Islamic State attack at Paris in 2015. The Frenchman also attacked Belgium for obstructing their efforts to secure their border.

Hollande was in attendance at a France-Germany football match at Stade de France when the initial blast outside the stadium went off. After the initial blast, militants continued to target restaurants, bars, and concert halls, killing 130.

Hollande, seeing the terror of violence and rising death toll, declared an emergency. He also ordered all frontiers to be closed. Salah Abdeslam fled to Belgium, the last remaining attacker.

Hollande said to Abdeslam that France wasn’t responsible, but another country for France’s exit.

Abdeslam declared himself an Islamic State soldier on the first day. Abdeslam has told investigators before that he intended to kill himself, but eventually backed down.

On Nov. 14, French police stopped Abdeslam’s car and asked Belgian police whether they held him on their watchlist. They did not receive an answer so they let him go. Four months later, he was arrested by the Molenbeek police area in Brussels.

The Belgian interior ministry could not be reached immediately for comment. Belgian authorities have accepted some responsibility in the past. Justice and interior ministers of Belgium offered resignations in 2016 to address security concerns related to attacks on Paris in 2015, and Brussels in March 2016.

HIGH ALERT

France was on alert at the time of the Paris attacks. It had just been the aftermath of militant attacks on Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical magazine, and a capital kosher grocery store in January that year.

Many of the attackers made it into Europe via strongholds within Islamic State in Syria. They used fake passports to enter Europe and mixed with refugees fleeing poverty and war.

Hollande stated to the court that there were gaps in French intelligence.

“There is clearly failure when an attack occurs,” he stated.

Abdeslam stated that the attackers were attempting to punish Hollande for French military action against Syria.

A court heard recordings taken inside Bataclan’s concert hall, where the victims were 90. The jihadists can also be heard saying Hollande’s name.

Hollande claimed that attackers had sought to discredit France and force him to end France’s military operations in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

Hollande said, “My goal is to preserve national unity.”