FRANCE-TRAIN/EMPLOYER French train gunman was "model employee" says former boss

Record ID: 142370

  • Title: FRANCE-TRAIN/EMPLOYER French train gunman was "model employee" says former boss
  • Date: 25th August 2015
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (French) VOICE OF LYCAMOBILE CHIEF OVER PICTURE OF LYCAMOBILE WEBSITE, ALAIN JOCHIMEK, SAYING: "He was a model employee. Nothing to say about his behaviour, his working skills, (TELEPHONE IN SHOT) beyond reproach, really irreproachable. He was a good element and it's clear that if he had had the correct paper-work he would have continued working for us." (SOUNDBITE) (French) VOICE OF LYCAMOBILE CHIEF OVER PICTURE OF LYCAMOBILE WEBSITE, ALAIN JOCHIMEK, SAYING: "I am bemused with everything that I have heard, the presence of his name on the French services' list, that he had been to prison in Spain on drug charges, (TELEPHONE IN SHOT) frankly it doesn't seem like it was the same person, it's incredible." WHITE FLASH FRAME
  • Embargoed: 9th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVACDWQVYQJNO27KFU8S89AR18Y2
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The former boss of a French gunman who attacked an Amsterdam-Paris Thalys train said on Tuesday (August 25) he was a "model employee".
    The suspect's former boss, Alain Jochimek, said he was bemused by the news of the attack by his former employee, named by intelligence sources as Ayoub el Khazzani, 26, of Morocco.
    Khazzani spent two months in France last year working for a mobile telephone company, but his contract was cut short because he lacked working papers.
    "He was a model employee. Nothing to say about his behaviour, his working skills, beyond reproach, really irreproachable. He was a good element and it's clear that if he had had the correct paper-work he would have continued working for us," Jochimek told Reuters over the phone.
    "I am bemused with everything that I have heard, the presence of his name on the French services' list, that he had been to prison in Spain on drug charges, frankly it doesn't seem like it was the same person, it's incredible," Jochimek added.
    According to Spanish security sources, Khazzani travelled to France in 2014 and went to Syria. French security sources said he caught a flight from Berlin to Istanbul on May 10 this year. Turkey is a preferred destination for would-be jihadists heading for Syria.
    Khazzani is on a French list of around 5,000 people who are documented as being a potential militant Islamist threat and was classified as a high risk, according to a source close to the investigation.
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