French authorities said that a man detained on suspicion of having killed four people at the Jewish Museum in Brussels in May was believed to be the first jihadist returning from Syria to carry out an attack in Europe. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
PARIS—The French government is stepping up its fight against nationals who travel to fight in Syria's civil war as fears grow in Europe and the U.S. that Western-born militants could commit terrorist attacks when they return home.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve on Wednesday proposed new obstacles, including blocking websites that aim to recruit jihadists, to stop French citizens from trying to reach the front lines of the Syrian conflict, where offshoots of al Qaeda and other Islamist militants have come to dominate the rebel side.
"Recent events show that laws must be adapted to take into account worrying developments," the government said.

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Mr. Cazeneuve's proposed measures come just weeks after French authorities said they believed that a man detained on suspicion of having killed four people at the Jewish Museum in Brussels in May was the first jihadist returning from Syria to carry out an attack in Europe.
The U.S. government has also expressed alarm over the numbers of Western-born Muslims flocking to Syria. On Tuesday, Attorney General Eric Holder urged U.S. allies to intensify efforts to stem what he called a "global crisis."
Scores of young men from the U.K., France and other European countries have joined the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, drawn by the group's drive to establish an Islamic caliphate across swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq.
In France, authorities suspect that about 800 people have either traveled to Syria to fight or are making plans to do so. Paris had already passed laws criminalizing such trips, and in April the government adopted measures to closely monitor websites affiliated with jihadist groups that recruit potential fighters inside France and arrange for then to travel to the Turkish-Syrian border, a common gateway to the conflict.
The measures proposed on Wednesday go a step further. They would allow authorities to block access to any website that authorities suspect is being used to promote jihad and to recruit militants within France.
Under the proposed law, investigators would also be empowered to search and possibly seize data held in servers located outside France, the government said.
"France cannot tolerate that messages calling people to jihad, or glorifying it, are being spread from its own soil with impunity," the government said.
The government's plans to impose travel bans on suspected radicals, however, are expected to have limited reach. The Schengen Agreement, which allows people and goods to move freely between most countries within the economic bloc, renders travel around much of Europe essentially borderless for EU residents. That gives suspected radicals with EU passports an easy loophole to circumvent any French restrictions by simply traveling to and from Syria via other European countries.
Write to Stacy Meichtry at stacy.meichtry@wsj.com
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France Plans Travel Ban for Syria-Bound Fighters

Wall Street Journal - ‎3 hours ago‎
French authorities said that a man detained on suspicion of having killed four people at the Jewish Museum in Brussels in May, was believed to be the first jihadist returning from Syria to carry out an attack in Europe. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images.