AN ENDURING THREAT: EUROPE’S ISLAMIST TERROR NETWORKS THEN AND NOW 16 with the ruling pending when he carried out his attack. As a result of this indictment he was subject to an international arrest warrant prior to the Brussels attacks.17 Known networks and associates: Brussels attacks (March 2016): -! Ibrahim el-Bakraoui,Khalid el-Bakraoui [both brothers died in 18 suicide attacks on the airport and metro, respectively], Mohammed Abrini [Abrini is suspected to be the third man involved in the attack on the Brussels airport].19 Paris attacks (November 2015): -! Laachraoui rented a house in Auvelais in which some of the Paris 20 attackers are thought to have met before the attacks; Laachraoui’s DNA was found on “a piece 21 of cloth” left at the Bataclan and on “an explosive device” discovered at the Stade de France, 22 leading to suggestions he may have produced bombs for both attacks; Salah Abdeslam [Laachraoui was stopped in September 2015 at the Hungary-Austria border in a car driven by 23 24 Abdeslam; Laachraoui’s DNA was also found in a house in Schaerbeek where police also 25 found a fingerprint belonging to Abdeslam]; Abdelhamid Abaaoud [Laachraoui allegedly 26 became associated with Abaaoud in Syria]; Ahmad al-Mohammed, M al-Mahmod [it is suggested that Mohammed and Mahmod may have stayed at the house rented by ‘Kayal 27 Soufiane’, a variation on Laachraoui’s alias, in Auvelais; Laachraoui’s DNA was also found at 28 the Auvelais house]. -! Zerkani network: Khalid Zerkani [Laachraoui was due to go on trial in absentia in May 2016 in connection with his relationship with the radical preacher].29 -! Other: Mohamed Belkaid [Laachraoui was allegedly seen in a car with Belkaid in September 30 2015 at a Hungary-Austrian police checkpoint]; Mohammed Bakkali [Bakkali, a resident of the 31 house in Auvelais rented by Laachraoui, was arrested in relation to the attacks]; Amr al-Absi [Laachraoui was part of al-Absi’s group in Syria before he returned to Europe to carry out ! ! 16 ‘Khalid Zerkani, Brussels’ jihadist preacher who ‘perverted a generation’’, France 24, 26 March 2016, available at: http://www.france24.com/en/20160325-khalid- zerkani-brussels-jihadist-preacher-kriket-molenbeek, last visited: 9 August 2016. 17 ‘Najim Laachraoui: The ‘Isis bomb-maker’ involved in the Brussels attacks whose DNA was all over Paris atrocity’, Independent, 23 March 2016, available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/najim-laachraoui-the-isis-bomb-maker-involved-in-brussels-attacks-whose-dna-was-all-over-paris-a6947761.html, last visited: 9 August 2016. 18 ‘Brussels explosions: What we know about airport and metro attacks’, BBC News, 9 April 2016. 19 ‘Paris attacks: Mohamed Abrini to be extradited to France’, BBC News, 9 June 2016, available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36492309, last visited: 9 August 2016. 20 Whitehead, T., ‘Brussels explosions: Is mystery airport attacker the wanted Paris bomb maker?’, MSN, 23 March 2016, available at: http://www.msn.com/en- in/news/world/brussels-explosions-is-mystery-airport-attacker-the-wanted-paris-bomb-maker/ar-BBqNENC, last visited: 9 August 2016. 21 ‘Brussels attacks: Suspect’s DNA at Paris attack sites’, BBC News, 25 March 2016, available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35899353, last visited: 9 August 2016. 22 Cendrowicz, L., ‘Najim Laachraoui: Belgian police launch manhunt for suspect who could have made suicide belts for Paris attacks’, Independent, 21 March 2016, available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/najim-laachraoui-belgian-police-to-launch-manhunt-for-suspect-who-could-have-made-suicide- belts-for-a6944656.html, last visited: 9 August 2016. 23 Blaise, L. and Aurelien Breeden, ‘Najim Laachraoui, 24, Bomb Maker for Paris and Brussels Attacks’, International New York Times, 25 March 2016. 24 Cendrowicz, L., ‘Najim Laachraoui: Belgian police launch manhunt for suspect who could have made suicide belts for Paris attacks’, Independent, 21 March 2016. 25 ‘Paris attacks hideouts found in Belgium’, BBC News, 13 January 2016, available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35300144, last visited: 9 August 2016. 26 ‘How Islamic State Infiltrated Europe’, The Wall Street Journal, 1 April 2016, available at: http://graphics.wsj.com/brussels-terror-network/?mod=e2fb, last visited: 9 August 2016. 27 ‘Paris attacks hideouts found in Belgium’, BBC News, 13 January 2016. 28 Cendrowicz, L., ‘Najim Laachraoui: Belgian police launch manhunt for suspect who could have made suicide belts for Paris attacks’, Independent, 21 March 2016. 29 Blaise, L. and Aurelien Breeden, ‘Najim Laachraoui, 24, Bomb Maker for Paris and Brussels Attacks’, International New York Times, 25 March 2016; ‘Belgian court sentences jihadist recruiter to 15 years in prison’, France 24, 14 April 2016, available at: http://www.france24.com/en/20160414-belgium-appeals-court- sentences-khalid-zerkani-15-years-prison, last visited: 9 August 2016. 30 Blaise, L. and Aurelien Breeden, ‘Najim Laachraoui, 24, Bomb Maker for Paris and Brussels Attacks’, International New York Times, 25 March 2016 31 James, J., ‘Paris Attack Suspect Arrested in Morocco’, HNGN, 19 January 2016, available at: http://www.hngn.com/articles/171031/20160119/paris-attack- suspect-arrested-morocco.htm, last visited: 9 August 2016. ! ! 9 !