GUILTY France - Three injured in attack on Amsterdam-Paris Thalys train, 21 Aug 2015

Amichai Stein ‏@AmichaiStein1
Deputy editor @channel1iba amichais@iba.org.il

#BREAKING: Officials to @CNNSitRoom: #Arras Train suspect linked to a group of French #ISIS fighters in #Turkey


BBM
 
The Telegraph:

Revealed: The mystery man who tackled AK-47 assault rifle from train gunman http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...ed-AK-47-assault-rifle-from-train-gunman.html …


The mystery identity of the first heroic passenger to wrestle a weapon from the high-speed train gunman can be disclosed for the first time by The Telegraph.

Mark Moogalian, a 51-year-old professor at the Sorbonne, tackled Ayoub El-Khazzani during Friday’s bloody incident aboard an Amsterdam-Paris international service.

Mr Moogalian, who lives in Paris but is originally from Midlothian, Virginia, US, is the previously unnamed man who came to the aid of “Damien A”, 28, a French banker who confronted El-Khazzani.
The academic acted instinctively to protect his partner Isabella Risacher, who was also aboard the Thalys train.
He tackled the Kalashnikov assault rifle off El-Khazzani, who then drew a sidearm and shot him in the neck before taking back the rifle, his sister has revealed.


BBM
 
http://www.lejdd.fr/Societe/Faits-divers/Thalys-L-obscur-itineraire-d-Ayoub-El-Khazzani-747735

The obscure itinerary of Ayoub El-Khazzani, the Thalys shooter


The trail of Ayoub El-Khazzani raises the question about the collaboration between European intelligence services. On Saturday night, Paris and Madrid were struggling to give their versions.

It took untill 19 hours on Saturday night before the French police knew for sure who the alleged gunman on the Thalys was: Ayoub El-Khazzani, a Moroccan native of Tetuan, born September 3, 1989. The young man, questioned since Saturday morning by investigators of SDAT, Sub-Directorate Anti-Terrorism, in Levallois-Perret, had given several identities. He also claimed to not speak French and alleged to have acted with the intent to commit a robbery. His fingerprints have unmasked him. But the French and Spanish intelligence services, which had long spotted this radical Islamist, had little doubt about his motives and identity anyway.

El-Khazzani is known to ISB (Directorate General of Internal Security) from a report by the Spanish intelligence dated February 2014. At the time, the Spaniards held the opinion that the Moroccan planned to come to France to join an acquaintance in Parisian region. They had Ayoub on their radar since he came to live in the area of Algeciras in 2013. The young Muslim immediately took up residence in a very radical mosque in the southern province of Andalusia. He also kept very bad company.

The bits of information that the Spanish services provided to the French speak so loudly for themselves, that they allotted him an S form [threat to State Security], like Sid Ahmed Ghlam and Yassin Salhi, the perpetrators of Villejuif (Val-de-Marne) and Saint-Quentin-Fallavier ( Isère). His was classified S3, S for description and 3 for degree of danger. On a Richter scale of terrorism, which goes from 16 (least severe) to 1, this is considered a serious classification. The police who might cross paths with this type of individuals are advised to show discretion, to gather as much information as possible and, where appropriate, to photocopy the ID ... According to French sources, he would however never have come to France. Or at least, he would never have been spotted there!

The French services, as is the tradition, passed on this sheet S to all their European counterparts. When the person on file is identified during a trip or an accidental identity check, the issuing country is automatically notified. In the jargon, we say that the form "rings". That of Ayoub El-Khazzani has "sounded" once, on May 10, 2015, when German authorities checked him in Berlin while boarding a flight with Germanwings to.. Istanbul, the gateway of future European jihadists to Syria. On May 11, the French warned the Spaniards. They responded on May 21 that Ayoub El-Khazzani was no longer present in their area, but had settled in Belgium since several months. "It is surprising that the Spaniards had not reported earlier that El-Khazzani had left their territory," jeers a French policeman, annoyed because leaks in the Spanish press state that the Thalys shooter had been stayiing in France in 2014.

The trail of suspected terrorist still contains many gray areas. The French and Spanish intelligence services are also struggling to match their stories about his past. While the report form refers to "petty violation of common law" to the French police, Spanish anti-terrorist service confirm that "Ayoub El-Khazzani would have done time in prison in Spain after a drug trafficking conviction." All infos have they been transmitted in due time about this man supposed to be closely monitored?

The trajectory of the young Moroccan raises the question of surveillance of "sensitive subjects" within Europe and the quality of the collaboration between the services of different countries. Saturday in Madrid and in Paris, they were very nervous about each others press reports. Who lost his trail?

Between his last sighting in Spain in March 2014, and his departure to Turkey in May, the trajectory of the Moroccan man is still unknown. Worse, at this stage of the investigation, no one knows when or how Ayoub El-Khazzani returned to Europe after his hypothetical stay in Syria.
In front of the French investigators, the suspect reportedly claimed to have found the Kalashnikov and the automatic pistol that were in his possession on the train, in "an abandoned bag in a park in Brussels." Saturday night, he had at no time expressed political motivations, religious and even less terrorist.

On social networks, the young man showed his fervor for legalistic Islam and denounced a latent Islamophobia in Europe while still remaining very cautious with his words. Yet in a publication dated January 2015, shortly after the attacks of Kouachi brothers and Amedy Coulibaly, Ayoub El-Khazzani attacked France and its colonial past. In a composition of archival photos of the war of Algeria, he denounced "a terrorist civilization and criminal state" and accused "Jews and Christians [to be] the source of terrorism."


BBM


Meanwhile, a link with a French ISIS groep in Turkey has been established.

:notgood:
 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...st-Ayoub-El-Khazzani-linked-to-Isis-live.html
Telegraph Liveblog:


Francois Hollande will present three young Americans and a British man with the country's top Legion d'Honneur medal at a ceremony on Monday in recognition of their bravery after they overpowered a gunman on a packed Thalys train, an Elysee source said, via AFP.

A French citizen who also tackled the suspected jihadist but who wishes to remain anonymous will receive the honour at a later date, as will a Franco-American passenger who was hit by a bullet and is recovering in hospital, the source told AFP.


BBM


The Legion d'Honneur, France's highest accolade, was created by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802 and is awarded in recognition of both civil and military achievements.

The train passengers are to be awarded the Chevalier de l'ordre national de la Legion d'Honneur, or Knight of the national Order of the Legion of Honour.

Charles Michel, the Belgian prime minister, the US ambassador to France Jane Hartley and members of France's government including Manuel Valls, the prime minister, are all expected to attend the award ceremony.
 
An excellent editorial in USA TODAY

Glenn Reynolds: See something? DO something!

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/08/23/americans-thwart-terrorist-france-column/32228597/


The purpose of terror is to terrorize. But responding appropriately has the opposite effect. The response of British businessman Chris Norman, who helped subdue the attacker, illustrates this: “Norman said his first reaction was to hide," The Fiscal Times reported. "But after he saw the Americans fighting the attacker, he said he went to help them.”

Fear is contagious. But so is courage. People should respond not like a herd of sheep but like a pack of wolves. When the follow-up report on the 2001 attacks came out, J.B. Schramm noted in The Washington Post that "on Sept. 11, 2001, American citizens saved the government, not the other way around.”

The editorial makes many great points. We cannot and should not rely on Government to save us from the growing threat of Islamic terrorism - we must have the courage to take on the Muslim extremists ourselves even if it means using our bare hands!
 
Although the Thalys train departed from Amsterdam and many Dutch were on board, The Netherlands are notably absent from the honors bestowed upon the heroes who prevented a massacre.
The Dutch government thought it fit to send as a representative not even the Ambassador, but a representative of the Ambassador.

While Belgium and France have stepped up security measures surrounding Hi-speed trains like Thalys, the Dutch government will do ..... nothing.



Anyone carrying luggage they do not want to be inspected, is cordially invited to board the Thalys in Amsterdam.



:badmood: :shame:
 
http://www.bfmtv.com/societe/ayoub-...ois-en-france-selon-son-employeur-909489.html

Ayoub El Khazzani has worked at least for two months in France according to his employer.


Ayoub El Khazzani who opened fire on Friday in a Thalys train, worked in France for two months in early 2014, according to his former employer Alain Jochimek, CEO of mobile operator Lycamobile, on Monday.


This is the first tangible evidence of his presence in France. "He actually worked with us on a three-month fixed-term contract: from February 3, 2014 to April 3, 2014," but Lycamobile "had to terminate the contract after two months because the papers he had presented did not allow him to work in France," the boss of the telephone operator said in an interview on France Info.
The attack on the Thalys on August 21 left three injured. Ayoub El Khazzani opened fire with a pistol and a Kalashnikov before being overpowered by passengers.


BBM
 
http://www.bfmtv.com/societe/ayoub-...ois-en-france-selon-son-employeur-909489.html

Ayoub El Khazzani has worked at least for two months in France according to his employer.


Ayoub El Khazzani who opened fire on Friday in a Thalys train, worked in France for two months in early 2014, according to his former employer Alain Jochimek, CEO of mobile operator Lycamobile, on Monday.


This is the first tangible evidence of his presence in France. "He actually worked with us on a three-month fixed-term contract: from February 3, 2014 to April 3, 2014," but Lycamobile "had to terminate the contract after two months because the papers he had presented did not allow him to work in France," the boss of the telephone operator said in an interview on France Info.
The attack on the Thalys on August 21 left three injured. Ayoub El Khazzani opened fire with a pistol and a Kalashnikov before being overpowered by passengers.


BBM

bbm orange My first thought upon reading this was, the guy that did the shooting in Tenn spent time with an uncle in jordon that was a business man of a cell phone company, iirc. jmo idk
 
http://www.politico.eu/article/europe-stands-by-schengen-free-movement-thalys-attack-border-control/

Friday’s foiled attack on a high-speed train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris has re-ignited longstanding concerns about Europe’s ability to prevent terrorist activity without internal border controls in the passport-free Schengen zone.

But despite calls from several political leaders to reconsider the Schengen agreement, which has thrown open the borders of 26 European countries, the Commission said Monday that option was off the table.

“Schengen is not negotiable and we have no intent to change that,” said Commission spokesman Christian Wigand at a press conference in Brussels.

As many look to the EU to do a better job of ensuring security in the region, the European Commission acknowledged Monday that it cannot do much except to play a facilitator role among its member countries in the counter-terrorism effort. The main instrument for this is Europol, which helps coordinate the work of national law-enforcement agencies to share information about terrorist networks.

Soon after the incident on the Thalys train in northern France, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel called for a re-evaluation of the freedom of unchecked movement within the Schengen area, suggesting increased identity and baggage checks.

In standing by Schengen, Commission officials warned that member states can’t go as far as to enact border controls except in certain circumstances and only for limited periods of time. They added that there are other possibilities to increase security under the existing agreement.


BBM


That is why the UK is so very happy that they are not part of Schengen.

Ayoub El Khazzani claims that he spent his time traveling between Spain, Belgium, Germany and Austria, he also claims to have been in France and Andorra. The system never pinged him, untill he boarded a plain in Germany.

EUrope is a terrorist's paradise, created and perpetuated by bureaucrats.



:gaah:
 
http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20150825_01833467


El Khazzani officially under suspicion
French prosecutor opens investigations into terrorist offenses



Ayoub el-Khazzani is officially under suspicion for several attempted attacks on the Thalys. The Paris prosecutor Francois Molins announced that at a press conference. At the press conference he also gave more details about the investigation.

Ayoub El-Khazzani is accused of several cases opf attempted murder as a member of a terrorist organization, according to the attorney general. The judge summed six elements that made him come to this conclusion:

* He was recently in Turkey and perhaps also in Syria
* The fact that he was carrying heavy weapons
* His little plausible explanation on the origin of the weapons and the money
* The fact that during the journey on the Thalys he was still watching a radical Islamic video inciting violence, on Youtube
* His firm refusal to take an earlier Thalys train
* His resolute stance during the raid


Ayoub el-Khazzani came on the radar for the first time in Spain when he was noticed in Algeciras in a radical mosque. He also was convicted several times for drug trafficking and work and traffic violations. He then worked six or seven months for the phone company Leyca Mobile in France, after which he was fired.

Since then he traveled to Cologne, Vienna and Cologne again. From Germany, he took a flight to Istanbul, Turkey, after which he possibly traveled to Syria. On June 4 he returned to Europe with a stopover in Albania, then he arrived in Brussels. According to his own statement, he was staying in a park near Brussels-South [Station]. But house searches revealed that he recently had stayed a few days with his sister in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek.

On Friday he bought in Brussels a first class ticket for the Thalys worth 149 euros, he paid cash. In addition, he wanted to take a specific train and did not accept the suggestion of the staff that there were still seats available on earlier Thalys trains.

During the journey on the Thalys train El Khazzani was carrying an AKM weapon, an automatic weapon of East German origin, and nine magazines each filled with thirty bullets. He also had a handgun, a cutter and a bottle of flammable liquid on him, the Prosecutor summed up.

Further investigation must now bring more information regarding the origin of the weapons, the trajectory that el-Khazzani follewd, his accomplices and the source of the money he used to pay among other things the Thalys ticket, the prosecutor concluded.

Pictures have surfaced of Ayoub el-Khazzani while he was being ushered into the courthouse in Paris this afternoon.

Earlier it was announced that on Monday the Belgian investigators have done two raids in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek. The prosecutor's office confirmed that El-Khazzani's sister, who calls herself Oum Badr, lives in one of the houses live where the searches took place. But since she did not officially register with local municipal authorities, it is unclear where she herself may have been, and where El-Khazzani therefore would have passed by.

The raids were primarily aimed to get more info about the places where he was given shelter while preparing his attack.

A source close to the investigation has told press agency AFP that shortly before his train journey El-Khazzani still was watching videos about the jihad, calling for holy war, on his mobile. An analysis of the cell phone showed that this happened in the time between the purchase of his ticket and his boarding at the Brussels-Midi station.

When he was arrested, the suspect turned out to have two phones in his pocket, but one probably belonged to one of the passengers that he went for.

El Khazzani himself does not want to explain the mobiles: "I found them in the park. Along with those Kalashnikov."


BBM
 
But, but, but, jee wiz I thought he just wanted to ROB those passengers?!?! Huh
 
But, but, but, jee wiz I thought he just wanted to ROB those passengers?!?! Huh

His lawyer told the press he needed to rob passengers because he was HUNGRY.
He must have been very hungry if €149 was not enough to enough buy food to satisfy that hunger and he decided to buy a first class train ticket to Paris instead!


Religion of peas......
 
http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4496/Buit...IS-sympathisanten-wordt-hier-onderschat.dhtml



Interview with Montasser Alde'emeh, Belgian Palestinian; Researcher (Global Jihad, Al Qaeda, IS)


"The danger of ISIS supporters is underestimated here"


A few days before the 26-year-old man who allegedly returned from Syria packed his Kalashnikov, boarded the Thalys at Brussels-Midi and was only barely stopped from causing a carnage on the train, a whatsapp-message arrived from the caliphate. The Belgian researcher Montasser Alde'emeh received an app on Tuesday. So far, nothing to worry about. Alde'emeh, who did field research in Syria in 2014, has kept in touch with dozens of jihadis since then. And often gets more apps from them.

However, never before Alde'emeh received a threat to Belgium. Addressed personally to him, he says, last month this happened for the first time. That all of Belgium was now declared a target, alarmed him greatly. In an audio file the voice Abdellah Nouaman (20) of Antwerp sounded, who expressed in unmistakable Flemish threats on behalf of the Belgian and Dutch Jihadis in Syria.

One could hear: "This is not a threat or foolish talking This is a declaration of war. Everything will go up into the air in Belgium. Libraries, schools, hospitals, shopping malls, dancings ... all places where the unbelievers are, we no longer go along with the talk about innocent victims. All infidels will be killed."

Thursday the Flemish newspaper De Standaard publisjed an interview with Alde'emeh about the threat. The newspaper also presented the facts to the Belgian security services. They "take the message very seriously," the newspaper reported, "but they see no reason to raise the threat level."

Although the attempted attack [on the Thalys] was applauded from the Caliphate, IS did not claim it. Meanwhile, the defendant claims not to have acted because of Islamic terrorist motives, but only because he was planning to rob train passengers. However, the possibility exists that Alde'emeh received an omen of things to come.

What do you think, is there a connection between the app and the events on the Thalys?
"I do not know whether a direct link exists between the attack and the threat. But actually, that does not matter. In the past the leader of IS has called for slaughter of infidels in Europe. Radical Islamic youth in Europe are encouraged on a daily basis to carry out attacks. In messages they get questions like. "What are you doing in the infidel Belgium? Either you come back here, or kill them over there and do at least something for us"
I see that sort of thing constantly. On Twitter during the last few days, I also saw circulate a manual by IS - how to make chemical bombs so you can carry out attacks here."


How did you know it was serious?
"I never received such a specific threat before, and the guy who sent it, was not reachable afterwards. That is why I reported it to the local police. And then the federal police started an investigation. If I get forwarded something like this. I'm 100 percent sure that the young people who sympathize with IS, also received it. And there are hundreds of them in Europe. "

Why has the Belgian government not intervened?
"I do not know, but my warning was not taken very seriously. Journalists have been toning down my warning too. The danger is underestimated, in my opinion. In my view the Belgian intelligence services work as amateurs. They have a lack of resources, analysts and experts. I keep a database, and sometimes know more than they do. There are not enough people who can tell one Arabic dialect from another. And they do not know enough about Islam and the Koran to get inside the minds of the jihadists."

What would you do?
"Of the foreign fighters in Syria who return, some are arrested and others are not. Therefore, young people who want to come back, do not know what awaits them. If they'd know that, they can think matters ten times over before they leave. A clear signal should be given. We have to stop that childish stuff like: 'We do not want to cause fear.' This way we're just waiting for the next attack."


BBM
 
http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4496/Buit...IS-sympathisanten-wordt-hier-onderschat.dhtml



Interview with Montasser Alde'emeh, Belgian Palestinian; Researcher (Global Jihad, Al Qaeda, IS)


"The danger of ISIS supporters is underestimated here"


A few days before the 26-year-old man who allegedly returned from Syria packed his Kalashnikov, boarded the Thalys at Brussels-Midi and was only barely stopped from causing a carnage on the train, a whatsapp-message arrived from the caliphate. The Belgian researcher Montasser Alde'emeh received an app on Tuesday. So far, nothing to worry about. Alde'emeh, who did field research in Syria in 2014, has kept in touch with dozens of jihadis since then. And often gets more apps from them.

However, never before Alde'emeh received a threat to Belgium. Addressed personally to him, he says, last month this happened for the first time. That all of Belgium was now declared a target, alarmed him greatly. In an audio file the voice Abdellah Nouaman (20) of Antwerp sounded, who expressed in unmistakable Flemish threats on behalf of the Belgian and Dutch Jihadis in Syria.

One could hear: "This is not a threat or foolish talking This is a declaration of war. Everything will go up into the air in Belgium. Libraries, schools, hospitals, shopping malls, dancings ... all places where the unbelievers are, we no longer go along with the talk about innocent victims. All infidels will be killed."

Thursday the Flemish newspaper De Standaard publisjed an interview with Alde'emeh about the threat. The newspaper also presented the facts to the Belgian security services. They "take the message very seriously," the newspaper reported, "but they see no reason to raise the threat level."

Although the attempted attack [on the Thalys] was applauded from the Caliphate, IS did not claim it. Meanwhile, the defendant claims not to have acted because of Islamic terrorist motives, but only because he was planning to rob train passengers. However, the possibility exists that Alde'emeh received an omen of things to come.

What do you think, is there a connection between the app and the events on the Thalys?
"I do not know whether a direct link exists between the attack and the threat. But actually, that does not matter. In the past the leader of IS has called for slaughter of infidels in Europe. Radical Islamic youth in Europe are encouraged on a daily basis to carry out attacks. In messages they get questions like. "What are you doing in the infidel Belgium? Either you come back here, or kill them over there and do at least something for us"
I see that sort of thing constantly. On Twitter during the last few days, I also saw circulate a manual by IS - how to make chemical bombs so you can carry out attacks here."


How did you know it was serious?
"I never received such a specific threat before, and the guy who sent it, was not reachable afterwards. That is why I reported it to the local police. And then the federal police started an investigation. If I get forwarded something like this. I'm 100 percent sure that the young people who sympathize with IS, also received it. And there are hundreds of them in Europe. "

Why has the Belgian government not intervened?
"I do not know, but my warning was not taken very seriously. Journalists have been toning down my warning too. The danger is underestimated, in my opinion. In my view the Belgian intelligence services work as amateurs. They have a lack of resources, analysts and experts. I keep a database, and sometimes know more than they do. There are not enough people who can tell one Arabic dialect from another. And they do not know enough about Islam and the Koran to get inside the minds of the jihadists."

What would you do?
"Of the foreign fighters in Syria who return, some are arrested and others are not. Therefore, young people who want to come back, do not know what awaits them. If they'd know that, they can think matters ten times over before they leave. A clear signal should be given. We have to stop that childish stuff like: 'We do not want to cause fear.' This way we're just waiting for the next attack."


BBM

Thanks Zazara for the link,this is very scary.I have felt that this was a possibility in Belgium for the past few years.The Antonium has been threatened before so that is a possibility,I feel the Grand Plaza is a place that could be threatened because it is a huge square with many tourists and on 3 narrow streets for an exit.I do not do any tourist stuff anymore and frequent places out of the way or were locals go.If there is a main street and heavy tourist
traffic,you just go 1-2 streets away and find a place to eat.Much cheaper and better food.
I have no choice but to take the trains but will try to sit by the exits and keep watchful.
 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...Hollande-warns-of-more-Islamist-violence.html

Telegraph / Le Canard Enchaîné

The army has made contingency plans for the “reappropriation of national territory”, meaning to win back control of neighbourhoods where the population become hostile to the security forces and where guns are easily obtainable, according to the source.

“There are a lot of alienated and angry fourth-generation immigrant kids in the suburbs and the prospect of radicalisation is increasingly likely,” the source said.

“The idea that attacks like the one on the train are carried out by individuals acting on their own is not credible. We’re dealing with highly-organised networks of militant Islamists embarked on a campaign of violence and determined to intensify it.”

Kalashnikov automatic rifles -- used by the train gunman and Islamist terrorists who killed 17 people in Paris in January -- and anti-tank missiles are now obtainable in France. Many were smuggled in from the former Yugoslavia after the Balkan wars in the 1990s. More weapons have come in from Libya, the sources said, adding that organised crime and terrorist groups were working together to procure them.

[...]

As early as 2010, an anti-tank missile was seized by police along with several tons of cannabis. Since then, an unknown number of rocket-propelled grenades and missiles are believed to have been smuggled into the country.

A missile attack could be devastating for an airliner, particularly if the plane was taking off and full of fuel. The main Paris airport at Roissy is near drug-infested suburbs of the capital prone to violence.

Agents of the DGSI, France’s equivalent of MI5, warned they are powerless to improve surveillance of Islamist militants bent on losing their lives to cause maximum carnage, and have been “lucky” to have avoided far worse catastrophes since the Paris Islamist attacks in January that killed 17, Le Canard Enchaîné, the investigative and satirical weekly, reported.

[...]

An agent told the newspaper there were fears of “an upcoming 11 September à la française where (intelligence) services are mere spectators”.

Luck rather than judgment had allayed larger-scale strikes, another is cited as saying.

“We’ve been lucky. Passengers in a train who neutralise a suspect, another who shoots himself in the foot then calls the emergency services, and a third who fails to blow up a chemical factory; without these fortuitous turns of events, the human and material toll would have been much higher. And we wouldn’t have been able to change a thing,” he told the weekly.


“The truth is we’ve already tried everything. But we’ve reached the very limits of what we are able to do as much from a legislative and organisational as a financial point of view.”


BBM
 

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