AN ENDURING THREAT: EUROPE’S ISLAMIST TERROR NETWORKS THEN AND NOW 417 GELEL ATTAR aka Abou Ibrahim Role: 418 Member of the Zerkani network. Bio: 419 420 26-year-old Attar has dual Belgian-Moroccan nationality and lived in Molenbeek. As early as 2012, he is believed to have hosted meetings in his apartment in Molenbeek’s Rue de Ribaucourt which 421 discussed armed attacks on Western democracy. He then travelled to Syria, with Belgian prosecutors 422 claiming he did so “with one of the suicide bombers of Saint Denis”. He was arrested near Mohammadia 423 in Morocco in January 2016. He is believed to have been in “close contact” with the leadership of IS 424 while in Syria. Foreign training/combat: 425 Attar fought for both Jabhat al-Nusra and IS in Syria. Movements: Attar travelled from Belgium to Syria on 4 January 2013 and returned in May 2013. He then 426 travelled to Morocco and returned to Syria. He is then believed to have left Syria via Turkey and 427 travelled through Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands before being arrested in Morocco. Criminal history: Attar was convicted in absentia for involvement in terrorist activity in 2015 as part of the 428 Zerkani network and sentenced to five years in prison. Known to the authorities: Allegedly known to the Belgian authorities for have hosted meetings discussing 429 Islamism-inspired terrorism as early as April 2012. Networks and associates: -! Paris attacks (November 2015): Abdelhamid Abaaoud, Chakib Akrouh [Attar travelled to Syria 430 in 2013 with Akrouh and built a relationship with Abaaoud whilst in Syria]. Zerkani network: -! Khalid Zerkani [Attar was given a five year sentence for his role in the Zerkani 431 network and has been described as Zerkani’s lieutenant]; Ilias Mohammadi [An alleged 432 member of the Zerkani network. Official documents state that he was close to Attar]; See Khalid Zerkani profile for full list of other network associates Attar may have associated with. ! ! 417 Malm, S., ‘Pictured: Belgian terror suspect 'with direct links' to Paris attackers who trained with Bataclan mastermind in Syria is arrested in Morocco’, Daily Mail Online, 18 January 2016. 418 Dalton, M. and Matthias Verbergt, ‘Paris Terror Attackers’ Contact Arrested in Morocco’, The Wall Street Journal, 18 January 2016, available at: http://www.wsj.com/articles/paris-terror-attackers-contact-arrested-in-morocco-1453136276, last visited: 9 August 2016. 419 Malm, S., ‘Pictured: Belgian terror suspect 'with direct links' to Paris attackers who trained with Bataclan mastermind in Syria is arrested in Morocco’, Daily Mail Online, 18 January 2016. 420 ibid. 421 Van Vlierden, G., ‘Belgium knew in 2012 already that Paris suspects were plotting attacks’, Emmejihad, 26 January 2016. 422 ‘Paris terror attack suspect arrested in Morocco is named as Gelel Attar’, The Telegraph, 19 January 2016, available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/morocco/12106083/Belgian-national-tied-to-Paris-terror-attacks-arrested-say-Moroccan- authorities.html, last visited: 9 August 2016. 423 Malm, S., ‘Pictured: Belgian terror suspect 'with direct links' to Paris attackers who trained with Bataclan mastermind in Syria is arrested in Morocco’, Daily Mail Online, 18 January 2016. 424 Dalton, M. and Verbergt, M, ‘Paris Terror Attackers’ Contact Arrested in Morocco’, The Wall Street Journal, 18 January 2016. 425 ‘Paris Attacks Suspect Arrested In Morocco’, Sky News, 18 January 2016, available at: http://news.sky.com/story/1625074/paris-attacks-suspect-arrested-in- morocco, last visited: 9 August 2016. 426 Malm, S., ‘Pictured: Belgian terror suspect 'with direct links' to Paris attackers who trained with Bataclan mastermind in Syria is arrested in Morocco’, Daily Mail Online, 18 January 2016. 427 Dalton, M. and Matthias Verbergt, ‘Paris Terror Attackers’ Contact Arrested in Morocco’, The Wall Street Journal, 18 January 2016. 428 ibid. 429 Van Vlierden, G., ‘Belgium knew in 2012 already that Paris suspects were plotting attacks’, Emmejihad, 26 January 2016. 430 Malm, S., ‘Pictured: Belgian terror suspect 'with direct links' to Paris attackers who trained with Bataclan mastermind in Syria is arrested in Morocco’, Daily Mail Online, 18 January 2016. 431 ‘Khalid Zerkani, Brussels’ jihadist preacher who ‘perverted a generation’’, France 24, 26 March 2016. 432 Van Vlierden, G., ‘Belgium knew in 2012 already that Paris suspects were plotting attacks’, Emmejihad, 26 January 2016. ! ! 37 !