Salah Abdeslam
| Salah Abdeslam | |
|---|---|
| Born | 15 September 1989 Brussels, Belgium |
| Nationality | French |
Salah Abdeslam (born 15 September 1989) is a Belgian-born Frenchman, a known criminal, and a terrorism suspect. He rented a car used to drive the attackers to the Bataclan theatre preceding the November 2015 Paris attacks, in which 130 people were murdered.
He has been billed by some newspapers as Public Enemy No. 1, or as "the most wanted" for crimes by the authorities in Europe.[1][2] He became "the target of one of the largest manhunts in European history" after the attacks.[3]
Of the men known to be involved in the attacks, he is the only one presumed to be still living.[4] Abdeslam is known to once have had contacts or social links to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, since the ISIL organization subsequently made a claim of responsibility for the attack.[5]
Contents
Personal background[edit]
Salah Abdeslam was born on September 15, 1989 in Brussels. Abdeslam and Abdelhamid Abaaoud were friends when children, when both were living in Saint-Jean Molenbeek.[6]
Abdeslam was employed by STIB as a mechanic from September 2009 to 2011.[6][7] His employment was terminated due to him being absent repeatedly.[8][5]
According to one source, Abdeslam was already known to police authorities as a person involved in so-called "small-time" crimes.[9] Another states that both he and Abaaoud were imprisoned for armed robbery during 2010.[6]
From December 2013, Abdeslam was manager of a bar named Les Béguines in Molenbeek, in the west of Brussels, after his brother Brahim took over the license (10 March 2013). Most of the bar's customers had Magrebian origins. The bar was closed when authorities discovered hallucinogenic substances were being used there.[7] The bar was named after the Beguines order of women, who originated in Belgium in 1200 A.D., and were supporters of religious reform. The word béguine includes meanings of flirtations or infatuations.[10][11]
Both Salah Abdeslam and his brother Brahim Abdeslam were associating while living in Brussels, a few months before the attacks. According to a journalist reporting for the The Mail Online, they were both questioned by Belgian authorities when one of the two attempted to travel to Syria, and both were subsequently released. An official for the federal prosecutor's office of Belgium apparently stated to Politico that both were already known to have been radicalized.[12]
Customers of a gay bar in Brussels told the British Sunday Times that he was a frequent visitor.[13] On Abdeslam, a bartender said, “We had him down as a rent boy". He was known for drinking, smoking hashish and being flirtatious with the men in the bar. He was also known to be a rabid video game player. The last time he visited that gay bar was a month prior to the attacks.[14]
Involvement in Paris attacks[edit]
The newspaper Le Point reported that Abdeslam is known to have used the website booking.com to rent rooms 312 and 311 of the Appart'City hotel in Alfortville, two days prior to the armed attack. Police apparently found syringes and pizza in the room. DNA traces indicated Abdeslam shared the room with others.[15] According to another source, the rooms were apparently booked for the days dating from 11 November to 17 November.[16]
Abdeslam is known from CCTV images to have been the driver of a car (a SEAT) containing a number of men involved in the events of Paris. Two men from within the car, one of whom being his brother, killed people using machine guns, while they were on terraces of bars in the 10th and 11th arrondissements of Paris. The car was later recovered.[9] Kalashnikov automatic weaponary (apparently specifically AK-47) were subsequently found in a car (León model[17] of car producer SEAT) recovered after the events.[18] Another report mentions additionally five magazines, and eleven magazines containing no bullets being found within the same vehicle, together with finger-print evidence.[17] A report on 16 November states both Salah Abdeslam and Brahim Abdeslam were traced to two vehicles, a SEAT, and another rented by Salah Abdeslam (a car produced by Volkswagen).[19]
Reports from both police and friends indicated that Abdeslam was supposed to launch an additional suicide bomber attack in the 18th arrondissement. ISIL's claim of responsibility claimed there were eight attackers, but only seven were found dead at the scene. They also claimed an attack in the 18th arrondissement, but no such attack took place. Instead, investigators found Abdeslam's abandoned car there.[20][21]
Escape and manhunt[edit]
While the events at the Bataclan theatre were unfolding, Abdeslam made a phone call to associates in Brussels, requesting they drive to him in order to aid his escape. After the events, police officers knew Abdeslam was wandering the streets for a period of approximately seven hours.[9] Abdeslam was collected while he was near the Boulevard Barbès in the 18th arrondissement of Paris.[22][23] Hamza Attou and Mohammed Amri were arrested because they drove Abdeslam after the shootings, and were charged with participating in a terrorist act by the Belgian authorities.[24]
Comments made by police with regards to the facts of Abdeslam's movements show they indicated to police authorities he had not made plans for escape.[25] The vehicle he and others were in was stopped by officers at Cambrai en route to Belgium, but allowed to continue.[19][26]
Discrepancy in media reports[edit]
Reports agree Abdeslam was driving a black vehicle; one report states it was a Volkswagen, another calls it a SEAT, and a third indicates a Renault Clio. The vehicle was found abandoned close to where Abdeslam is presumed to have been collected by his Brussels associates.[25][9][12] The Renault-type vehicle was discovered in Albert Kahn square in the 18th arrondissement of Paris.[12][16]
Several media later speculated Abdeslam was seen escaping police on the evening of 22 November in a BMW, heading towards Germany. However, these rumors were later confirmed to be false, with the Belgian federal prosecutor saying in an official statement that "a BMW sighting near Liege that had been rumored to contain Abdeslam had no links with the ongoing investigation."[27]
References[edit]
- ^ Anna Dubuis (17 November 2015). "One Paris attacker identified as Salah Abdeslam". The Mirror. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ^ "Hunt For Public Enemy No.1 Amid Belgian Raids". Sky News. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ^ "Family in shock, says fugitive's brother". The New Zealand Herald. 19 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ^ Lichfield, John (19 November 2015). "On the run from Isis: Jihadists 'targeting Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam for chickening out of killings'". The Independent. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ^ a b Hans Von Der Burchard (17 November 2015). "Belgium ignored signals on Abdeslam brothers". Politico. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ^ a b c Ben Farmer (20 November 2015). "Salah Abdeslam: The former bar manager now on the run as one of the world's most wanted terrorists". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ^ a b Y. Thompson, K. Makdeche (2015-11-18). "article". francetvinfo. Retrieved 2015-11-20.
- ^ Anne Barker (18 November 2015). "Salah Abdeslam: The former bar manager now on the run as one of the world's most wanted terrorists". ABC. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ^ a b c d John Lichfield (19 November 2015). "'Eighth' Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam could also be on the run from Isis amid fears the group would exact revenge on his family". The Independent. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ^ Beguine. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ^ "Encyclopedia of Monasticism". Routledge. 4 December 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ^ a b c Imogen Calderwood (18 November 2015). "Candles for the dead... lit by the brother of the madmen who killed them: Sibling of Paris massacre duo puts on public display of support for the victims after denying any involvement". Mail Online. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ^ Mary Kay Linge, NY Post (22 November 2015). "Paris attack fugitive Salah Abdeslam ‘visited gay bar’ in Belgium". News.com.au. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ^ Matthew Campbell, Bojan Pancevski, Tony Allen-Mills and Nicola Smith (22 November 2015). "Gay sex, drugs, then suicidal slaughter". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ^ Barry Keevins; Jason Silverstein (18 November 2015). "Paris terror suspect Salah Abdeslam left pizza, needles in suburban hotel rooms: report". The New York Daily News. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ^ a b Raya Jalabi; Jessica Elgot; Jonathan Bucks (18 November 2015). "Paris attacks: Germany on alert after 'concrete' threat to attack Hanover stadium – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ^ a b Patrick Sawer; Lexi Finnigan (15 November 2015). Paris attacks: Gunmen may still be on the loose as Kalashnikovs and empty magazines found in abandoned car in city suburb. The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ^ Tom Porter (15 November 2015). "Paris attacks: Police hunt for 8th suspect as Kalashnikov assault rifles found in abandoned car". International Business Times. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ^ a b "Paris attacks: Manhunt for Salah Abdeslam and accomplices". BBC News. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
- ^ "Wanted Paris attacked fears for his life from ISIS". Daily Star. 22 November 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ^ "ISIS Paris gunman skypes friends from Brussels for help". Daily Mirror. 22 November 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ^ Tim Lister (22 November 2015). "Salah Abdeslam: The mystery of France's most-wanted man". CNN. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ^ Éric Pelletier; Stéphane Sellami (18 November 2015). "Attentats de Paris: la nuit où Salah Abdeslam s'est volatilisé" [Bombings in Paris: the night Salah Abdeslam vanished]. Le Parisien. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ^ Cassandra Vinograd; Nancy Ing; Mac William Bishop (17 November 2015). "Paris Attacks: Salah Abdeslam's Alleged Getaway Drivers Charged". NBC News. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ^ a b Flora Drury (19 November 2015). "Is this the on-the-run Paris jihadist in disguise? Image 'circulated by French police shows Salah Abdeslam in wig and glasses' as it emerges he's also fleeing ISIS commanders who are angry that he backed out of suicide attack". The Daily Mail. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ^ Gordan Rayner; Henry Samuel; Matthew Holehouse (17 November 2015). "Paris attacks: police believe two suspects are at large". The Telegraph. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ^ "Belgium police arrest 21 people in raids; Paris fugitive Salah Abdeslam still at large". WDTN.
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