He was born
on 15 September 1989 in Brussels, Belgium. His parents are immigrants who were
living in Bouyafar, a small village in northern Morocco, prior to emigration.
Though the Abdeslams lived in Belgium from the 1960s, they were all French
nationals, having acquired French nationality from the time the parents lived
in Algeria.
Abdeslam and
Abdelhamid Abaaoud were friends as children, when both were living in
Sint-Jans-Molenbeek. Another childhood friend stated that Abdeslam liked
football and motorbikes. According to a woman to whom Abdeslam was briefly
engaged in 2011, he and Abaaoud continued to be close friends into adulthood.
At some
point, Abdeslam became a reputed user of cannabis. He also regularly drank
alcohol, was known to frequent gay bars where he associated himself with
circles of male homosexual prostitutes and their clients, and was regarded as a
"rent boy" by patrons and staff as he was "always hanging out
with that kinda crowd".
Abdeslam was
employed by STIB-MIVB as a mechanic from September 2009 to 2011. One source
states his employment was terminated due to his repeated absences, but another
source previously close to Abdeslam stated that his employment was terminated
due to some kind of act or acts of crime, for which he was subsequently
sentenced to one month in jail.
From
December 2013, Abdeslam was the manager of a bar named Les Béguines in
Molenbeek, located west of Brussels, after his brother Brahim took over the
license. Most of the bar's customers were of Maghrebian origin. The bar was
closed when authorities discovered that hallucinogenic substances were being
used there. Abdeslam and his brother sold the bar about six weeks before the
attacks.
According to
one source, Abdeslam was already known to police authorities as a person involved
in petty crime. Another states that both he and Abaaoud were imprisoned for
armed robbery in 2010. According to the lawyer representing Abaaoud, his client
and Abdeslam were arrested in December 2010 for attempting to break into a
parking garage. In February 2011, Abdeslam was convicted for breaking and
entering. In February 2015, he was arrested by Dutch police and charged for
possession of cannabis.
0 comments:
Post a Comment