Geneva security officials have said they have raised the alert level in the city and are looking for suspects in connection with investigations into the Paris attacks on 13 November.

Policemen armed with submachine guns were posted at the entrances to United Nations institutions as well as the airport, train station and other key landmarks. UN buildings were evacuated shortly before midnight on Wednesday night.

According to the Geneva press, a photograph of four bearded men suspected of being members of Isis in the area was being circulated among police patrols, following a tip-off from US intelligence.

The photo published in the Swiss press show the four smiling men holding up their index finger, an Isis sign. It was reported that one possible target for attack was a US-Russian meeting on Syria that had been scheduled to take place in Geneva.



According to Le Temps, a suspect van was seen in Geneva with Belgian plates on 8 December. The police approached the van following information from French intelligence that the two occupants were radicalised and could present a threat. However they managed to escape and are thought to have left Swiss territory.



A security guard at the United Nations in Geneva, which is close to the French border, said on Thursday Swiss authorities were searching for four people believed to be in the city or nearby. Another guard said the UN compound was on maximum alert.

In a statement, the Geneva department of security said: “In the framework of investigations carried out following the Paris attacks, at the international and national level, Geneva police and their partners are actively looking for people whose description has been provided by the Swiss Confederation.”

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the shooting and bomb attacks which killed 130 people in Paris on 13 November. Police in several European countries are still searching for individuals believed to have been involved in the attacks or in their planning.

It was not immediately clear from the Geneva statement, however, whether the suspects were directly linked to the Paris attacks. A Geneva spokeswoman said she had no further comment

UN security guards in Geneva, the European headquarters of the world body, were stationed with MP5 submachine guns at entry points for cars, a highly unusual measure at the sprawling complex near the French border.

A second UN guard told Reuters: “It is maximum alert.”

Swiss and French officials say they have been working closely together since the Paris attacks.

In an interview days after the attacks, Virginie Perrey, France’s security attache in Switzerland, based in the capital, Berne, told French-speaking Swiss TV: “That same evening the [Swiss] federal police called me and two security officers were detached, who left for the Swiss embassy in Paris to bring assistance. Obviously information was exchanged immediately.”