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Swedish terror suspect ‘planned airport attack’

Swedish national Osama Krayem, linked to the deadly attacks in Paris on November 13 and in Brussels on March 22, is now suspected of having plotted to attack also the Schiphol airport in the Netherlands.

Published: 22 October 2016 15:44 CEST
Swedish terror suspect ‘planned airport attack’
Swedish terror suspect Osama Krayem. Photo: Facebook

Twenty-four-year-old Krayem, from Malmö, in southern Sweden, was charged in Brussels earlier this year over his links to the terror cell that carried out the attacks in the French and Belgian capitals in 2015 and 2016 and in which 162 people were killed. On Thursday, a Belgian court ruled to extend Krayem’s detention by another two months.

According to an anonymous judicial source cited by Swedish daily Sydsvenskan, the extended detention comes on the back of new findings suggesting the Swede, along with an accomplice, planned to attack the international Schiphol airport in the Netherlands.

The findings include two bus tickets, bought under fake names, from Brussels to Amsterdam with departure on the day of the November 13 attacks in Paris. Another key finding is a laptop found in police raids carried out after the March 22 bombings in Brussels and which contained a list of five terror targets, three of them which were hit in the Paris attacks as well as two more: the “metro” and “Schiphol”.

The paper says French police now suspect the terror cell was planning to also attack the Paris metro and the Schiphol airport, but that something went wrong.

“There were two single-journey tickets [to Amsterdam],” the source told Sydsvenskan. The paper said that Krayem, a Swede of Syrian origin, has admitted during police questioning to have travelled to Amsterdam on November 13 and that he had booked a hotel room there, but for some reason he then decided to return to Brussels on the same day. They still don't know why.

“That makes the trip [to Amsterdam] a mystery,” the source told the newspaper.

One of the main police theories is that the manhunt and subsequent capture of Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving member of the terrorist teams who carried out the massacres in Paris, unleashed a wave of panic among fellow accomplices in Brussels, prompting them to put a halt to their imminent plans.

Krayem is believed to have left Sweden in 2014 and made his way to Syria where he joined Isis. Facebook posts from that time show him posting pictures of himself posing with Kalashnikovs, and with the black Isis flag in the background. He also posted videos of the group killing people.

Krayem used a false passport to return to Europe on September 20 last year and after making his way to Belgium via Greece and Germany, he was picked up in Brussels by Abdeslam on October 3, 2015, some five weeks before the coordinated terror attacks in Paris.

PARIS

Fluffy nuisance: Outcry as Paris sends Invalides rabbits into exile

Efforts to relocate wild rabbits that are a common sight on the lawns of the historic Invalides memorial complex have provoked criticism from animal rights groups.

Published: 14 February 2024 13:01 CET
Fluffy nuisance: Outcry as Paris sends Invalides rabbits into exile

Tourists and Parisians have long been accustomed to the sight of wild rabbits frolicking around the lawns of Les Invalides, one of the French capital’s great landmarks.

But efforts are underway to relocate the fluffy animals, accused of damaging the gardens and drains around the giant edifice that houses Napoleon’s tomb, authorities said.

Police said that several dozen bunnies had been captured since late January and relocated to the private estate of Breau in the Seine-et-Marne region outside Paris, a move that has prompted an outcry from animal rights activists.

“Two operations have taken place since 25 January,” the police prefecture told AFP.

“Twenty-four healthy rabbits were captured on each occasion and released after vaccination” in Seine-et-Marne, the prefecture said.

Six more operations are scheduled to take place in the coming weeks.

Around 300 wild rabbits live around Les Invalides, according to estimates.

“The overpopulation on the site is leading to deteriorating living conditions and health risks,” the prefecture said.

Authorities estimate the cost of restoring the site, which has been damaged by the proliferation of underground galleries and the deterioration of gardens, pipes and flora, at €366,000.

Animal rights groups denounced the operation.

The Paris Animaux Zoopolis group said the rabbits were being subjected to “intense stress” or could be killed “under the guise of relocation”.

“A number of rabbits will die during capture and potentially during transport,” said the group, accusing authorities of being “opaque” about their methods.

The animal rights group also noted that Breau was home to the headquarters of the Seine-et-Marne hunting federation.

The police prefecture insisted that the animals would not be hunted.

In 2021, authorities classified the rabbits living in Paris as a nuisance but the order was reversed following an outcry from animal groups who have been pushing for a peaceful cohabitation with the animals.

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