Jerôme Courtailler is a French radical Islamic extremist convicted of belonging to a terrorist organization.
Travel
editJerôme later traveled first to Peshawar, Pakistan, and later attended an Afghan training camp, and is believed to have played a role in supplying the forged documents to the two men who assassinated Ahmed Shah Massoud in September 2001.[1]
Upon returning to France, he was placed on the CIA terrorist watchlist. The French police were alerted of this after he was arrested for shoplifting a pair of shoes in Calvados, France.[2]
Life
editCourtailler grew up in an Alpine town. His father was a butcher who went bankrupt, divorced his mother, and moved to work in a meatpacking plant far away. He was raised Roman Catholic, and when to a Catholic school. He became addicted to drugs before converting to Islam at a Brighton mosque in 1996. Shortly thereafter he stayed in Zacarias Moussaoui's apartment, and afterwards travelled to an Al Qaeda's Khalden training camp in Afghanistan.[3]
Conviction for militant links and embassy plot
editCourtailler was held in the Netherlands, suspected of attempting to blow up the U.S. Embassy in France.[4] In 2002 the case was dismissed since information was obtained from illegally obtained wiretaps, however in 2004 following an appeal he was convicted in absentia of belonging to a terrorist organization and sentenced to six years in prison.[3][5][6] He turned himself in shortly thereafter.[6]
References
edit- ^ Vidino, Lorenzo. "Al-Qaeda in Europe", 2006. Prometheus Books
- ^ Rotella, Sebastian; David Zucchino (October 22, 2001). "Embassy plot offers insight into terrorist recruitment, training". The Advocate. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
- ^ a b Europe Fears Islamic Converts May Give Cover for Extremism, New York Times, 19 July 2004
- ^ Barnett, Antony (October 18, 2001). "UK student's 'key terror role'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
- ^ Gedye, Robin (22 June 2004). "Dutch appeal court jails embassy bomb plotters". The Telegraph. ProQuest 316984940.
- ^ a b Johnson, Zachary (2005-01-25). "Chronology: The Plots". PBS. Retrieved 2019-01-04.
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