2023-10-17 08:14:44
In a video with a strong Tunisian accent, the man took responsibility for his act. In Arabic, he explained that he was part of the Islamic State (terrorist group), and boasted of having killed three Swedes.
He was identified as Abdeselam L, 45, from Schaerbeek, of Tunisian origin. The Prime Minister confirmed, during the press conference this Tuesday morning at 5 a.m., that he was in an irregular situation in Belgium. He had in fact applied for asylum in 2019, but received a negative decision. Removed from the municipality in 2021, his order to leave the territory might never be given to him. He was known to the police for human trafficking, illegal residence and endangering state security.
In 2016, a foreign service reported him as being a radicalized profile, ready to fight in a conflict zone for jihad, “but this was one of dozens of such daily reports” at the time, explained the Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne, and nothing might be done at the time.
More recently, he allegedly threatened a resident of an asylum center in Campine, who denounced him and reported that he had been convicted of terrorism in Tunisia. The Joint Information Center, created following the attacks to centralize information regarding terrorism, had planned a meeting, scheduled for this very Tuesday, but also received information that his conviction was for acts of common law and not terrorism: “There was therefore no imminent terrorist threat detectedSelon Vincent Van Quickenborne.
His act would not have a direct link with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, even if on the Facebook account where he posted his demand video, he mentioned earlier in the day the Islamophobic murder of a little boy in the United States.
But the fact of targeting Swedes is undoubtedly not a coincidence: as confirmed during the special program by the criminologist from the University of Liège Michaël Dantinne, lThe image of this member country of the European Union has deteriorated significantly in the Muslim world following several desecrations of the Koran authorized on its soil.
The suspect apparently acted alone.
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