AN ENDURING THREAT: EUROPE’S ISLAMIST TERROR NETWORKS THEN AND NOW believed the plot involved the kidnapping of a nuclear expert to make a ‘dirty bomb’. The passes of 11 63 nuclear workers were consequently revoked. Ibrahim left an audio-note to his mother on a computer 64 discarded in a bin in Schaerbeek claiming that he preferred to be a suicide bomber than be sent to jail. Foreign training/combat : Bakraoui travelled to Antalya, Turkey, in June 2015, and was subsequently detained by Turkish authorities in Gaziantep after he was identified as “a potential foreign fighter” intending to travel to Syria.65 It is unclear if he was able to make contact with militants. Movements: 66 Detained by Turkish authorities in Gaziantep, Turkey (June 2015); Turkey to Netherlands, 67 entered via Schiphol airport (15 July 2015). Criminal history: In January 2010, Ibrahim opened fire on police officers while a lookout during a robbery 68 in Brussels. In August 2010, he was sentenced to nine years for attempted murder and was released on 69 70 parole by October 2014. [Another source claims he was sentenced to nine years in October 2010]. Known to the authorities: Turkish authorities claim to have notified the Belgian authorities after arresting Ibrahim in June 2015, and it is reported Belgian authorities stated they had previously released him on 71 the grounds there was insufficient evidence of terrorist links. However, Dutch and Belgian authorities 72 73 deny these claims. Ibrahim was also on the US counter-terrorism watch list prior to the Paris attacks and New York police issued an alert for both brothers on 16 March 2016.74 Networks and associates: -! Brussels attacks (March 2016): Khalid el-Bakraoui [brother], Najim Laachraoui [fellow 75 attacker]; Mohamed Abrini [Khalid el-Bakraoui profile for details]. -! Paris attacks (November 2015): Abdelhamid Abaaoud, Brahim Abdeslam, Salah Abdeslam, Bilal Hadfi [Sources suggest Ibrahim was involved in renting properties in Charleroi and 76 Schaerbeek alongside his brother. See Khalid el-Bakraoui profile for details]. Other: -! Abu Sulayman al-Faransi [Ibrahim el-Bakraoui’s computer contained evidence of contact with al-Faransi and it is believed the Brussels attack plans were ‘submitted’ by Ibrahim to al- 77 Faransi]. ! ! 63 Holehouse, M., ‘All Belgian residents issued with iodine tablets to protect against radiation’, The Telegraph, 28 April 2016. 64 Samuel, H. and Robert Mendick, ‘Brussels attacks: Airport bomber's suicide note to his mother’ The Telegraph, 23 March 2016, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/03/24/brussels-attacks-airport-bombers-suicide-note-to-his-mother/, last visited: 9 August 2016. 65 Henley, J. and Kareem Shaheen, ‘Suicide bombers in Brussels had known links to Paris attacks’, Guardian, 23 March 2016. 66 ‘Ibrahim and Khalid el-Bakraoui: from Bank Robbers to Brussels Bombers’, International New York Times, 24 March 2016. 67 ‘Brussels attacks: Have blunders hampered Belgian investigation?’, BBC News, 15 April 2016. 68 ‘Ibrahim and Khalid el-Bakraoui: From Bank Robbers to Brussels Bombers’, International New York Times, 24 March 2016. 69 ibid. 70 ‘Brussels attacks: Airport bomber’s suicide note to his mother’, Daily Telegraph, 23 March 2016. 71 Henley, J. and Kareem Shaheen, ‘Suicide bombers in Brussels had known links to Paris attacks’, Guardian, 23 March 2016. 72 ‘Brussels attacks: Have blunders hampered Belgian investigation?’, BBC News, 15 April 2016. 73 ‘Sources say Ibrahim el Bakraoui was on US counterterrorism watch list before Paris attacks- live’, Daily Telegraph, March 2016. 74 ‘Brussels attacks: Have blunders hampered Belgian investigation?’, BBC News, 15 April 2016. 75 ‘Brussels explosions: What we know about airport and metro attacks’, BBC News, 9 April 2016. 76 Henley, J. and Angelique Chrisafis, ‘Brussels bomber's DNA confirms his link to Paris attacks, say prosecutors’, Guardian, 25 March 2016. 77 Gartenstein-Ross, D., and Nathaniel Barr, ‘Recent Attacks Illuminate Islamic State’s Europe Attack Network’, The Jamestown Foundation, 27 April 2016, available at: http://www.jamestown.org/programs/tm/single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=45362&cHash=89f8c723f2eb291f6effb6d9ba332c8b#.VytMZY-cHVI, last visited: 9 August 2016. ! ! 12 !