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Paris attacks trial: Humdrum lives that turned to mass murder | ||||||||
2021-11-06 | ||||||||
[BBC] They had happy childhoods in Brussels, Malmo or Tunis, with plenty of brothers and sisters and parents who worked hard to give them life's comforts. The long-running Paris attacks trial heard this week how the once ordinary lives of 14 men in the dock became a mix of petty jobs and petty crime. Some went to join the war in Syria, and then became caught up in an Islamic State vengeance plot to wreak terrorist havoc in Western Europe. It culminated in the murder of 130 people on the night of 13 November 2015.
A key place in this world was the Molenbeek neighbourhood of Brussels,
Brahim Abdeslam was one of the café terrace gunmen in November 2015. He blew himself up at the Comptoir Voltaire. He was also the brother of Salah Abdeslam,
Speaking of his childhood on Tuesday, Salah Abdeslam, 32, cut a different figure from the aggressively unrepentant side that he has shown so far in the trial. He even raised a few mild laughs in the courtroom. Born in Brussels to Moroccan parents, and with French nationality, he described himself as "quiet - a nice guy". "I was popular with the teachers… good in certain subjects. I studied hard. I gave my all. I was ambitious." He took a diploma in electrical mechanics and started work, like his father, at the Brussels tram company. But after a year and a half he was fired. "Why were you fired?" asked the presiding judge. "Because I was in prison." At the end of 2010, Salah Abdeslam had taken part in a botched robbery with his friend Abdelhamid Abaaoud
"I was born and grew up in Belgium. I went to state school. I lived as I was taught to live in the West. Like everyone else, I wanted to marry and have children," he told the court. "But I put all that to one side the moment I decided to invest myself in another project." What other project, asked the judge. "The things I am accused of now." Another habitué of Les Béguines in Molenbeek was Mohamed Abrini,
One of seven children of a Moroccan-born builder who "earned a good wage - we were neither rich nor poor", he had a first conviction (of six) at 17 for stealing a car. Then came a succession of odd jobs, but he was also a compulsive gambler. He planned to marry, but when a younger brother was killed in Syria, he vowed to go there too. "Did you not wish to repay your parents for their love and encouragement?" asked the judge. "Naturally they were disappointed. I'd have liked to make my father proud. Our parents did all they could to make sure we succeeded in life. I was dragged down by the neighbourhood." "And yet your elder brother, who also grew up there - he did well in life." "If you add up those who failed and those who succeeded, it's about 80-20. I am one of those who did not make a success." Hamza Attou,
"That's how I lived. I sold cannabis resin. I know it's an offence. I'm not proud of it. But I couldn't see myself robbing people or mugging them." He is accused of driving from Brussels to pick up Salah Abdeslam late on the night of the attacks. One of three defendants who are not in custody for the trial, he was nonetheless found to have occasionally violated the terms of his conditional release, notably by staying out late at night. "Do you not see you could go to prison for that?" asked the judge. "Often in my life I act and then I reflect. That's how I ended up where I am now," he said. Another Belgian of Moroccan origin, Mohamed Bakkali
"It was a united family. I played football at a local club and went to the municipal library. I read a lot." After leaving school he worked with his father at a garage. "That's when I began to learn Arabic, to speak to the customers." At home they spoke Berber. But then he began dealing in counterfeit goods: "Clothes, trainers, watches, perfume - I sold it all." Bakkali is accused of helping with the logistics of the attacks. He is serving a prison term for a similar role in the so-called Thalys attack of August 2015. In jail, where like other defendants he is kept in isolation, he has taken up studies in sociology. "Originally I wanted to do ethnology, to discover the Berber people and my roots," he said. "But then I discovered sociology. It has helped me understand the complexity of things. I am learning about the things I no longer have - social relations." While most of the accused have Belgian or French nationality, four grew up in Sweden, Tunisia, Algeria and Pakistan. They went to Syria to join Islamic State militants and then crossed Europe in 2015. Osama Krayem,
"So you were given as an example of integration?" asked the judge. "You felt you were well integrated at that point?" No, he replied: "I lived in a neighbourhood where there was not a single Swede." Pakistani Muhamed Usman lost his farmer father when he was very young. He remembered enjoying cricket as a boy, but could not tell how many years he spent working in the fields and how many studying at a madrassa. "I don't know at what age I stopped my studies. In my people we do not celebrate birthdays." Which is a problem, because no-one can determine his age today. Fake papers that he was carrying when arrested in Greece say he was born in 1981, but an identity card sent by Pakistani police gives his year of birth as 1993. The judge said he looked far too old to be just 28. "I know I do not look my age. It is because of being in isolation," he said. The religious motivation of the accused was not explored, nor were the steps they took that brought them to where they are. All that must await another chapter in the trial. Related: Molenbeek: 2021-09-09 Trial of 20 men accused in 2015 Paris terrorist attacks begins in France Molenbeek: 2021-02-21 Europe Molenbeek: 2020-08-31 Belgian Firefighters Lured Into No-Go Zone and Attacked Related: Brahim Abdeslam: 2021-09-09 Trial of 20 men accused in 2015 Paris terrorist attacks begins in France Brahim Abdeslam: 2017-06-09 Brussels attacks probe highlights intel sharing failures Brahim Abdeslam: 2016-04-09 Paris attacks suspect Mohamed Abrini arrested Related: Salah Abdeslam: 2021-10-07 Paris attack survivors relive horror of 'playing dead' at Bataclan Salah Abdeslam: 2021-09-18 Belgium charges 10 over 2016 bomb attacks in Brussels Salah Abdeslam: 2021-09-16 Suspect in 2015 Paris attacks says deaths of 130 people 'nothing personal' Related: Abdelhamid Abaaoud: 2021-09-09 Trial of 20 men accused in 2015 Paris terrorist attacks begins in France Abdelhamid Abaaoud: 2020-12-18 Islamist gunman behind failed 2015 Thalys train attack jailed for life by French court Abdelhamid Abaaoud: 2020-02-26 French extremist trained by Paris attacks leader given 12-year jail term Related: Mohamed Abrini: 2021-09-09 Trial of 20 men accused in 2015 Paris terrorist attacks begins in France Mohamed Abrini: 2019-09-02 Belgian ISIS butcher dubbed 'the executioner of Raqqa' who beheaded more than 100 people in terror stronghold while claiming benefits in Britain is captured in Syria Mohamed Abrini: 2017-03-29 ‘Why Do All the Jihadis Come to Birmingham?' Related: Hamza Attou: 2016-07-08 Two Paris Attacks Suspects Charged Wednesday after Being Handed to France Hamza Attou: 2015-11-29 Sixth Person Charged in Belgium over Paris Attacks Hamza Attou: 2015-11-25 Belgium Issues Int'l Arrest Warrant for Suspect Seen Driving Paris Attacks Car Related: Osama Krayem: 2021-09-09 Trial of 20 men accused in 2015 Paris terrorist attacks begins in France Osama Krayem: 2019-08-13 Paris attacks suspect charged over Brussels suicide bombings Osama Krayem: 2017-10-12 Belgium Charges New Suspect over 2016 Brussels Suicide Attacks Related: Mohammed Abrini: 2021-09-16 Suspect in 2015 Paris attacks says deaths of 130 people 'nothing personal' Mohammed Abrini: 2019-09-02 Belgian ISIS butcher dubbed 'the executioner of Raqqa' who beheaded more than 100 people in terror stronghold while claiming benefits in Britain is captured in Syria Mohammed Abrini: 2019-08-13 Paris attacks suspect charged over Brussels suicide bombings | ||||||||
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