Ibrahim El Bakraoui
| Ibrahim El Bakraoui | |
|---|---|
Still from CCTV footage showing Najim Laachraoui (left), Ibrahim El Bakraoui (centre), and Mohamed Abrini (right)
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| Born |
9 October 1986 Brussels, Belgium |
| Status | Deceased |
| Died | 22 March 2016 (aged 29) Zaventem, Belgium |
| Known for | Involvement in the 2016 Brussels bombings |
Ibrahim El Bakraoui (Arabic: إبراهيم البكراوي; 9 October 1986 – 22 March 2016) was a Belgian national of Moroccan descent, confirmed to be one of the suicide bombers at the Brussels Airport in the 2016 Brussels bombings.
El Bakraoui was born on 9 October 1986 in Brussels and raised in Laken, a residential district in northwestern Brussels. He was a Belgian national of Moroccan descent. His father, a retired butcher and devout Muslim, emigrated from Morocco; his mother was described as "conservative and reclusive". His brother Khalid has been identified as the suicide bomber at Maalbeek metro station in Brussels on 22 March 2016.
In January 2010, he was involved in the attempted robbery of a currency exchange office, where he shot at police with a Kalashnikov rifle while providing a lookout for his accomplices. One police officer was shot in the leg but survived. The Mayor of Brussels, Freddy Thielemans, and the Mayor of Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, Philippe Moureaux, described the shooting as a "fait divers" (a small daily news item) and "normal in a large city", causing controversy.
Later in 2010, Ibrahim was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but was released on parole in 2014 under the condition that he did not leave the country for longer than a month. Following his release from prison, he collected €25,000 in Belgian government benefits until December 2015. He failed to abide by the conditions of parole and was sought again by the authorities.
According to the authorities in Turkey, they arrested Ibrahim as a "suspected terrorist" in June 2015 and deported him to Europe, where he chose to go to the Netherlands. Belgian authorities were informed of the detention and deportation, but they apparently ignored the warnings, and the Netherlands released Ibrahim after failing to establish any link to terrorism.
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