AN ENDURING THREAT: EUROPE’S ISLAMIST TERROR NETWORKS THEN AND NOW involvement with an attack on the Paris metro in 1995.594 Coulibaly and Beghal were convicted of 595 involvement and Beghal was sentenced to ten years and stripped of his French nationality. 596 Foreign training/combat: Believed to have spent time at training camps in Afghanistan in 2001. Movements: 597 Moved to France aged 22; Moved to the UK in 1997; Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium 598 and France (1997-2000); London to Afghanistan (November 2000); Afghanistan to Dubai (July 2001). Criminal history: Convicted of involvement in the 2001 al-Qaeda plot to bomb the US Embassy and 599 600 Cultural Centre in Paris (2005); Convicted of involvement in plot to free Smain Ali Belkacem (2010); Organised the kidnapping of Azzedin Journazi’s children in 2000, but does not appear to have been convicted of involvement. He was already imprisoned when associate Mustafa Abushima was convicted 601 in 2005. Known to the authorities: 602 Beghal was arrested in 1994 in connection with a network of Algerian militants. In 1996, French authorities found that a suspected terrorist was in possession of Beghal’s phone number 603 and he was questioned, and Beghal was stopped and questioned again by French authorities in 1999. Before his arrest in July 2001, he had been under surveillance for two years, though the French had “lost track” of him when he left for Afghanistan. On his return, the CIA is claimed to have “insisted Beghal be held and questioned”.604 Networks and associates: Al-Qaeda -! : Baghdad Meziane, Brahim Benmerzouga [Convicted al-Qaeda financiers, Beghal has 605 been described as a “close friend” of the two men and visited them before travelling to 606 Afghanistan]; Richard Reid [Reid was recruited by Beghal after the men met at Finsbury Park 607 Mosque where Reid was staying]; Zacharias Moussaoui [Convicted of involvement with the 9/11 attacks, Moussaoui is believed to have been recruited by Beghal];608 David Courtailler [Assisted 609 Beghal in the kidnapping of Azzedin Journazi’s children]; Abu Zubaydah [Senior al-Qaeda 610 operative and logistics hub who met with Beghal in Afghanistan]. US Embassy and Cultural Centre plot (2001) -! : Nizar Trabelsi [Trabelsi was to be the suicide bomber to attack the Embassy and cultural centre. He had attended Abu Qatada’s study sessions ! ! 594 Mendick, R., ‘Leicester terrorist cell that laid seeds of Paris atrocity’, The Telegraph, 17 January 2015, available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11353140/Leicester-terrorist-cell-that-laid-seeds-of-Paris-atrocity.html, last visited: 9 August 2016. 595 ‘French attacks inquiry centers on prison 'sorcerer' Beghal’, Reuters, 15 January 2015, available at: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-shooting-beghal- insight-idUSKBN0KO28G20150115, last visited: 9 August 2016. 596 ‘Six jailed over Paris bomb plot’, BBC News, 15 March 2005. 597 Halliday, J. et al., ‘Mentor of Charlie Hebdo gunmen has been UK-based’, Guardian, 11 January 2015. 598 Erlanger, S. and Chris Hedges, ‘Terror Cells Slip Through Europe's Grasp’, The New York Times, 28 December 2001. 599 ‘Six jailed over Paris bomb plot’, BBC News, 15 March 2005. 600 ‘French attacks inquiry centers on prison 'sorcerer' Beghal’, Reuters, 15 January 2015. 601 Laville, S., ‘Terrorist organised children's kidnap’, Guardian, 1 July 2005, available at: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/jul/01/alqaida.world, last visited: 9 August 2016. 602 Erlanger, S. and Chris Hedges, ‘Terror Cells Slip Through Europe's Grasp’, The New York Times, 28 December 2001. 603 Halliday, J. et al., ‘Mentor of Charlie Hebdo gunmen has been UK-based’, Guardian, 11 January 2015. 604 Erlanger, S. and Chris Hedges, ‘Terror Cells Slip Through Europe's Grasp’, The New York Times, 28 December 2001. 605 Mendick, R., ‘Leicester terrorist cell that laid seeds of Paris atrocity’, The Telegraph, 17 January 2015. 606 ‘Britain's first al Qaida terrorists jailed’, Daily Mail Online, available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-174742/Britains-al-Qaida-terrorists-jailed.html, last visited: 9 August 2016. 607 O’Neill, S. and Daniel McGrory, The Suicide Factory: Abu Hamza and the Finsbury Park Mosque (London: Harper Collins, 2006) p. 225. 608 Bird, S., ‘Quiet existence in Leicester suburb masked complex terrorist network’, The Times, 2 April 2003, available at: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/article1908171.ece?acs_cjd=true, last visited: 9 August 2016. 609 Sapsted, D., ‘Vet is convicted of kidnapping five children’, The Telegraph, 1 July 2005, available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1493140/Vet-is- convicted-of-kidnapping-five-children.html, last visited: 9 August 2016. 610 Henley, J., ‘Paris plot reveals link to terror chief’, Guardian, 3 October 2001. ! ! 51 !