Investigators identify plotter of French, Belgian terrorist attacks

French investigators have identified a Syrian-based extremist with Belgian and Moroccan nationalities who is thought to have plotted the attacks in Paris and Brussels, sources close to the case told the AFP on Tuesday.

Oussama Atar, 32, believed to be a member of the Islamic State group, was already a suspect in the March 22 attacks on Brussels but has now been linked to the Nov. 13 atrocities in Paris last year.

"He's the only coordinator from Syria to have been identified during the investigations," one of the sources told the AFP.

French investigators have long suspected that the Paris attacks, in which teams of militants killed 130 people, were coordinated by one or several people from Syria, but they have not named anyone before now.

Atar, believed to use the pseudonym Abou Ahmad, is a cousin of the El Bakraoui brothers who blew themselves up in the Brussels airport and metro attacks.

Another two cousins, Moustapha and Jawad Benhattal, were arrested on June 18 on suspicion of planning an attack in Belgium during a public screening of a Euro 2016 football match, Belgian media reported at the time.

France is preparing this weekend to mark the anniversary of the Paris attacks.

The Bataclan concert hall, where 90 people died in an attack by three gunmen, is set to reopen on Saturday with a concert by Sting.

French President François Hollande will lead low-key commemorations on Sunday in the presence of survivors and family members of the dead.

(AFP)
 

Date created : 2016-11-08