Belgian Jihadist Challenges Citizenship Revocation in Brussels Court

The Belgo-Moroccan Gelel Attar alias "Abou Ibrahim" had befriended Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the alleged mastermind of the attacks carried out on November 13, 2015 in Paris, and Chakib Akrouh, one of the terrace killers, reports La Capitale. The jihadist is known to the Belgian justice system mainly through the case of the terrorist cell tried in July 2015 in Brussels - the "Zerkani" case - named after one of the most important recruiters of Belgian jihadists in recent years. More than thirty defendants had been summoned as part of this case. Absent from his trial like several other defendants, Gelel had been sentenced to five years in prison.

The 30-year-old jihadist had met Khalid Zerkani in Molenbeek after settling there in December 2011. During his trial, he was considered the preacher’s right-hand man, as he had housed him at his home in 2012, and had organized several meetings at his home to convince potential candidates for departure, with a whole indoctrination material. Belgian justice had also blamed the jihadist for having encouraged young recruits to various criminal activities (thefts, petty thefts, etc.), in order to finance the departures to Syria.

Gelel had faced other legal troubles in Belgium. He had been arrested for having accompanied Chakib Akrouh to Syria by plane in January 2013. The young man had confided to his family that it was the Belgo-Moroccan who had encouraged him. The two men had been struck off the population registers of Molenbeek a few months after their departure, but Gelel had nevertheless quickly returned to Belgium via Germany, before joining Morocco the same year.

On January 15, 2016, the Belgo-Moroccan had been arrested in Casablanca. He "would be in direct contact with the terrorists who perpetrated the barbaric acts in Paris on November 13," the Moroccan Interior Ministry had specified. The man had joined the Moroccan jihadist movement "Jabhat Al Nosra", before joining the ranks of Daesh. He notably fought within the "muhajirin" ("the immigrants", in Arabic) battalion.