AN ENDURING THREAT: EUROPE’S ISLAMIST TERROR NETWORKS THEN AND NOW 32 attacks]; Mohammed Emwazi [Laachraoui allegedly worked with the IS executioner from 33 Britain in Syria]. 34 KHALID EL-BAKRAOUI aka Ibrahim Maaroufi Role: 35 Brussels Metro suicide bomber; suspected of playing a role in the logistics of the Paris attacks, 36 including providing ammunition. He rented apartments used by the Paris attackers in Charleroi, Belgium 37 38 using the alias ‘Ibrahim Maaroufi’, and other apartments in the Forest and Schaerbeek areas of Brussels. Bio: 39 Khalid el-Bakraoui, 27 years old, grew up with his brother Ibrahim in Laeken, Brussels, their father 40 a butcher who had emigrated from Morocco. Both Bakraoui brothers are alleged to have been plotting another attack in which radioactive material would be scattered over a populated area; in particular, they have been linked to the surveillance of a senior Belgian nuclear authority. It is believed the plot involved the kidnapping of a nuclear expert to make a ‘dirty bomb’. The passes of 11 nuclear workers were 41 consequently revoked. Foreign training/combat: Unknown. Movements: Unknown. Criminal history: In 2009, el-Bakraoui was involved in four car-jackings and a bank robbery, kidnapping a bank employee in October 2009 and forcing her to deactivate alarm systems before stealing €41,000 euros. He was convicted of criminal conspiracy, armed robbery and possession of stolen goods and 42 sentenced to five years in September 2011, being freed on parole in 2013 or 2014. Known to the authorities: Just months after his brother, Ibrahim, was stopped at the Turkish border with 43 Syria, an arrest warrant for Khalid was issued by Interpol because he had violated his parole conditions. Khalid was also allegedly put on the US counter-terrorism watch list soon after the Paris attacks on 13 44 45 November 2015 and Interpol issued a red notice for him in December 2015. New York police also 46 issued an alert for both brothers on 16 March 2016 which was passed on to the Dutch authorities. ! ! 32 Spencer, R., ‘Four jihadists, one prison: all released by Assad and all now dead’, The Telegraph, 11 May 2016, available at: http://s.telegraph.co.uk/graphics/projects/isis-jihad-syria-assad-islamic/index.html, last accessed 9 August 2016. 33 Hunter, M., ‘Brussels airport bomber tortured British ISIS prisoners before they were beheaded… and regularly taunted them that it would be their ‘death tomorrow’’, Daily Mail Online, 13 May 2016. 34 ‘Ibrahim and Khalid el-Bakraoui: From Bank Robbers to Brussels Bombers’, International New York Times, 24 March 2016, available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/25/world/europe/expanding-portraits-of-brussels-bombers-ibrahim-and-khalid-el-bakraoui.html?_r=0, last visited: 9 August 2016. 35 ‘Suicide bombers in Brussels had known links to Paris attacks’, Guardian, 23 March 2016, available at: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/23/belgium- awkward-questions-bombers-links-to-paris-terror-cell, last visited: 9 August 2016. 36 Tomlinson, S., ‘Revealed: Bomber brothers were gangland criminals and wanted by Interpol – but were STILL able to provide ammunition for Paris attacks and rent flat for Brussels mastermind’, Daily Mail Online, 23 March 2016, available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3506131/Bomber-brothers-gangland- criminals-jailed-wielding-Kalashnikovs-able-provide-ammunition-Paris-attacks-rent-flat-ISIS-Brussels-mastermind.html, last visited: 9 August 2016. 37 ‘Ibrahim and Khalid el-Bakraoui: From Bank Robbers to Brussels Bombers’, International New York Times, 24 March 2016. 38 Chrisafis, A, and Jon Henley, ‘Brussels suicide bombers identified as police hunt suspect caught on CCTV’, Guardian, 23 March 2016, available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/23/brussels-suicide-bombers-named-el-barkaoui-brothers; and ‘Brussels attacks: Have blunders hampered Belgian investigation?’, BBC News, 15 April 2016, available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35918282. Both last visited: 9 August 2016. 39 Holehouse, M., ‘El-Bakraoui brothers: Who are the suicide bombers Khalid and Brahim behind the Brussels attacks?’ Daily Telegraph, 25 March 2016. 40 ‘Ibrahim and Khalid el-Bakraoui: From Bank Robbers to Brussels Bombers’, International New York Times, 24 March 2016. 41 Holehouse, M., ‘All Belgian residents issued with iodine tablets to protect against radiation’, The Telegraph, 28 April 2016, available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/28/all-belgian-residents-issued-with-iodine-tablets-to-protect-agai/, last visited: 9 August 2016. 42 ‘Ibrahim and Khalid el-Bakraoui: From Bank Robbers to Brussels Bombers’, International New York Times, 24 March 2016. 43 ibid. 44 Graham, C. et al., ‘Sources say Ibrahim el-Bakraoui was on US counterterrorism watch list before Paris attacks- live’, Daily Telegraph, 26 March 2016, available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/12204399/Brussels-terror-attacks-metro-airport-suspects-live.html, last visited: 9 August 2016. 45 ‘Brussels attacks: Have blunders hampered Belgian investigation?’ BBC News, 15 April 2016. 46 ibid. ! ! 10 !
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