AN ENDURING THREAT: EUROPE’S ISLAMIST TERROR NETWORKS THEN AND NOW 681 divorced, and he became involved with alcohol and drug abuse. By 1997, Jerome appears to have been living in the UK with David and to have converted to Islam under the influence of Djamel Beghal, as well as praying at the Finsbury Park Mosque. He is alleged to have travelled to Afghanistan at some time in 682 683 the late 1990s alongside David, before returning and moving to Rotterdam in the Netherlands. 684 Courtailler was arrested on 13 September 2001 in Rotterdam and found to be in possession of fake passports, extremist material, and bomb-making information. He was believed to have been connected to the supplying of fake documentation to those involved in the assassination of Ahmad Shah Massoud in 2001 and had been recorded by Dutch intelligence discussing the provision of fake documents with 685 Nizar Trabelsi. In 2002, he was acquitted of involvement in the US Embassy bomb plot and was released, moving to St.-Pierre-en-Faucigny in southern France. He was then convicted on appeal in absentia in June 2004 and sentenced to six years, giving himself up on 24 June.686 Foreign training/combat: 687 Trained in Afghanistan. 688 Movements: UK [1997]; Afghanistan (late 1990s); Netherlands (Unclear); France (2002). Criminal history: 689 Involved with drug abuse prior to his radicalisation. Convicted in 2004 for involvement 690 in the 2001 plot to bomb the US Embassy in Paris. Known to the authorities: 691 Came under surveillance from Dutch intelligence on moving to Rotterdam. Networks and associates: -! Al-Qaeda: David Courtailler [Brother; the two men are believed to have lived in Brixton with Zacarias Moussaoui and travelled to Afghanistan together]; Zacarias Moussaoui [Shared an 692 apartment with Courtailler in Brixton] ; Omar Altimimi [Altimimi stayed at an apartment in 693 Rotterdam in which Courtailler had also lived] Richard Reid [Courtailler met Reid in the 694 Netherlands]. US Embassy and Cultural Centre plot (2001) 695 -! : Djamel Beghal [Courtailler is believed to have 696 been converted to Islam by Beghal]. Nizar Trabelsi [Dutch intelligence intercepted phone calls between Courtailler and Trabelsi discussing the provision of fake documentation];697 Abdelghani ! ! 681 Rotella, S. and David Zucchino, ‘Embassy plot offers insight into terrorist recruitment, training’, The Chicago Tribune, 22 October 2001, available at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-worldtrade-embassyplot-lat-story.html, last visited: 9 August 2016. 682 Barnett, A. et al., ‘UK student's 'key terror role'’, Guardian, 28 October 2001, available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/28/terrorism.uk; and Burke, J., ‘AK-47 training held at London mosque’, Guardian, 17 February 2002, available at: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/feb/17/terrorism.religion. Both last visited: 9 August 2016. 683 ‘Europe fears Islamic converts may give cover for extremism’, The New York Times, 19 July 2004. 684 ‘Dutch court jails terror supporters’, BBC News, 21 June 2004. 685 ‘Europe fears Islamic converts may give cover for extremism’, The New York Times, 19 July 2004; and ‘Suspect arrested in foiled embassy plot’, The Chicago Tribune, 23 June 2002. 686 ‘Europe fears Islamic converts may give cover for extremism’, The New York Times, 19 July 2004. 687 Barnett, A. et al., ‘UK student's 'key terror role'’, Guardian, 28 October 2001. 688 ‘Europe fears Islamic converts may give cover for extremism’, The New York Times, 19 July 2004; and Rotella, S. and David Zucchino, ‘Embassy plot offers insight into terrorist recruitment, training’, The Chicago Tribune, 22 October 2001. 689 Rotella, S. and David Zucchino, ‘Embassy plot offers insight into terrorist recruitment, training’, The Chicago Tribune, 22 October 2001. 690 ‘Dutch court jails terror supporters’, BBC News, 21 June 2004. 691 ‘Europe fears Islamic converts may give cover for extremism’, The New York Times, 19 July 2004. 692 Barnett, A. et al., ‘UK student's 'key terror role'’, Guardian, 28 October 2001. 693 Pantucci, R., “We Love Death as You Love Life”: Britain’s Suburban Terrorists, (London, 2015), pp. 178-9. 694 ‘Europe fears Islamic converts may give cover for extremism’, The New York Times, 19 July 2004. 695 ‘Sentences of up to six years sought for Dutch terrorism suspects’, Agence France Presse, 4 December 2002. 696 ‘Europe fears Islamic converts may give cover for extremism’, The New York Times, 19 July 2004. 697 ‘Suspect arrested in foiled embassy plot’, The Chicago Tribune, 23 June 2002. ! ! 56 !