FRANCE-TRAIN/SPAIN GUNMAN NEIGHBOURS Spain confirms that France's train gunman lived in Algeciras

Record ID: 142809

  • Title: FRANCE-TRAIN/SPAIN GUNMAN NEIGHBOURS Spain confirms that France's train gunman lived in Algeciras
  • Date: 24th August 2015
  • Summary: ALGECIRAS, SPAIN (AUGUST 24, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF VIEW OF EL SALADILLO NEIGHBOURHOOD WHERE THE FAMILY OF AYOUB EL KHAZZANI LIVES TOWER BLOCK ONE WHERE KHAZZANI FAMILY LIVES TOWER BLOCK FROM ANOTHER ANGLE FIFTH FLOOR FLAT WHERE NEIGHBOURS SAY THE KHAZZANI'S LIVE VARIOUS OF CLOSED FLAT WINDOWS SIGN READING EL SALADILLO ENTRANCE TO TOWER BLOCK ONE RESIDENT ENTERING TOWER BLOCK ONE AND WAVING INDICATING HE DOES NOT WANT TO COMMENT SIGN ON BLOCK READING "1" TWO PEOPLE WALKING INTO BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) JAVIER, RESIDENT OF TOWER BLOCK ONE, SAYING: "Our relationship is very cordial when we cross paths, they don't seem like a bad family, on the contrary. I was surprised when I heard the news." (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) JOSEFA GRANADOS, RESIDENT OF TOWER BLOCK ONE, SAYING: "We are all scared here." INTERCOM ON DOOR JOSEFA SITTING OUTSIDE BUILDING FLAGS ABOVE BUILDING / VIEW OF EL SALADILLO
  • Embargoed: 8th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Spain
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA6NGSP003Y120WZK1PV2I65S4X
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The neighbours of the family of the gunman who attacked passengers on a high-speed train in France last week expressed their shock on Monday (August 24) that the suspect had lived among them.
    The gunman, identified as 26-year-old Moroccan Ayoub el Khazzani is believed to have lived in Spain in his early adult life and was arrested at least once for drug trafficking, according to Reuters sources. Some Spanish newspapers said he may have been radicalised while in prison.
    El Khazzani's family still live in the impoverished neighbourhood of El Saladillo in Algecira, southern Spain. A landscape dominated by high-rise tower blocks, El Saladillo is a byword for urban deprivation with a high crime rate and unemployment, and is just a 90-minute ferry trip from Morocco.
    A resident of tower block one where Mohammed el Khazzani, the father of the gunman resides, said the family had seemed very ordinary.
    "Our relationship is very cordial when we cross paths, they don't seem like a bad family, on the contrary. I was surprised when I heard the news," said Tower Block One resident Javier, who had also crossed paths with Ayoub el Khazzani in the building before he left for France in 2014.
    But another resident, Josefa Granados, said she felt fearful.
    "We are all scared here," she said.
    Spanish security sources say Khazzani lived in Madrid between 2007 and 2010 before moving to the southern Spanish port of Algeciras.
    According to the Spanish security sources, he travelled to France in 2014 and went to Syria. French security sources said he went to Berlin airport for a flight to Istanbul on May 10 this year. Turkey is a preferred flight destination for would-be jihadists heading for Syria.
    El Khazzani's lawyer said on Sunday that the 26-year-old is "dumbfounded" at having been taken for an Islamist militant and says he only intended to rob people on board because he was hungry.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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