AN ENDURING THREAT: EUROPE’S ISLAMIST TERROR NETWORKS THEN AND NOW Criminal history: Convicted of attempted murder in 2007. Convicted of recruiting for IS in January 491 2016. Known to the authorities: Known to French authorities for terrorism-related links following his 492 involvement in a plot to free Smaïn Ait Ali Belkacem from prison in 2010. In 2014, he was added to a US list of ten Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT), and according to the US State Department 493 is subject to a European Arrest Warrant. Networks and associates: -! Paris attacks (November 2015): Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium have suggested 494 that Benghalem may have played a significant role in organising the Paris attacks. -! Buttes-Chaumont Group: Mohamed el-Ayouni [leader of the group, believed to have met Benghalem in prison]; Said and Cherif Kouachi [Charlie Hebdo attackers and members of the 495 Buttes-Chaumont network. Benghalem was involved in a planned jail-break with Cherif Kouachi in 2010 and travelled to Yemen with him in 2011]; Ahmedy Coulibaly [Kosher supermarket attacker and associate of Benghalem involved in jail-break plans]. -! Other: Anwar al-Awlaki [Benghalem was allegedly influenced by the AQAP ideologue while in Yemen]; Mehdi Nemmouche [The two men were jailers for IS in Aleppo between July and 496 December 2013, during which time they guarded French hostages]. 497 FABIEN CLAIN aka Omar Role: There is speculation that he may have taken over Abaaoud’s role of recruiting IS operatives to carry out attacks in Europe. His voice was identified as that on the recording claiming responsibility for the 498 Paris attacks, while his past discussions with French militants about attacking the Bataclan concert hall 499 has led to suggestions he may have had input into target selection. Bio: A French convert from Toulouse, Clain converted to Islam in the 1990s and became radicalised in the early 2000s. He and his brother, Jean-Michel, were involved with the Salafist community in 500 Toulouse. Originally from Reunion, he has been described as a “veteran of [the] radical Islamist 501 networks” of Toulouse and it is reported he was close to the family of Mohammed Merah when living ! ! 491 ‘French IS group recruiter sentenced to 15 years in absentia’, France 24, 7 January 2015; and ‘Paris attacks: Was Salim Benghalem the real ringleader?’, BBC News, 23 January 2015. 492 Samuel, H. and Patrick Sawyer, ‘Charlie Hebdo attack: the Kouachi brothers and the network of French Islamists with links to Islamic State’, The Telegraph, 8 January 2015, available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11334249/Charlie-Hebdo-attack-the-Kouachi-brothers-and-the-network-of- French-Islamists-with-links-to-Islamic-State.html, last visited: 9 August 2016. 493 ‘Designations of Foreign Terrorist Fighters’, US Department of State, 24 September 2014, available at: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2014/09/232067.htm, last visited: 9 August 2016. 494 ‘Paris attacks: Was Salim Benghalem the real ringleader?’, BBC News, 23 January 2015. 495 McHugh, J., ‘Who Is Salim Benghalem? Trial Begins For France's Top ISIS Recruiter, Called True Mastermind Of Paris Islamic State Attacks’, International Business Times, 1 December 2015. 496 ‘Paris attacks: Was Salim Benghalem the real ringleader?’, BBC News, 23 January 2015. 497 Robinson, M., ‘Revealed: French voice behind chilling ISIS Paris massacres message is also a homegrown terrorist behind other attacks in his own country’, Daily Mail Online, 18 November 2015 498 Gartenstein-Ross, D, and Nathaniel Barr, ‘Recent Attacks Illuminate Islamic State’s Europe Attack Network’, The Jamestown Foundation, 27 April 2016. 499 ibid. 500 Taylor, A,. ‘A French Muslim convert living in Syria is believed to play a key role in European terror’, The Washington Post, 21 November 2015, available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/11/21/a-french-muslim-convert-living-in-syria-is-believed-to-play-a-key-role-in-european-terror/, last visited: 9 August 2016. 501 Robinson, M., ‘Revealed: French voice behind chilling ISIS Paris massacres message is also a homegrown terrorist behind other attacks in his own country’, Daily Mail Online, 18 November 2015 ! ! 43 !