Turkey warned France over Paris attacker: Turkish official
Date
11/16/2015 7:59:44 AM
(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Turkey warned France almost a year ago over a suspected Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militant who blew himself up in the bloodyParisattacks but theFrenchauthorities did not respond agencies quoted a senior Turkish official as saying on Nov. 16.
Turkish police "notified theirFrenchcounterparts twice - in December 2014 and June 2015" about Omar Ismail Mostefai the official told AFP asking not to be named.
"We did however not hear back from France on the matter" added the official.
Identified by his finger which was found among the rubble of the Bataclan concert hall the 29-year-old Mostefai was one of three attackers all wearing suicide vests at the venue where 89 people were killed in the bloodiest scene of the carnage.
Born on Nov. 21 1985 in the poorParissuburb of Courcouronnes Mostefai's criminal record shows eight convictions for petty crimes between 2004 and 2010 but no jail time.
The Turkish official confirmed that Mostefai entered Turkey from the northwestern province of Edirne that borders EU membersGreeceand Bulgaria in 2013.
"There is no record of him leaving the country" said the Turkish official.
However Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) reported there are no records of Mostefai entering and exiting Turkey in 2013 quoting official sources.
The official said thatFrenchauthorities had only showed interest in Mostefai after the attacks.
"It was only after theParisattacks that the Turkish authorities received an information request about Omar Ismail Mostefai from France."
He said that on October 10 2014 Turkey received an information request regarding four terror suspects from theFrenchauthorities but not for Mostefai even though he had been identified by Turkey as a potential terror suspect.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.