Ayoub el-Khazzani (31) announced on the first day of his trial that he intended to commit an attack. However, the ‘Thalys terrorist’ suddenly came back to this a few hours later. The Moroccan is on trial for the foiled terror attack on a train to Paris five years ago.
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The process started this morning for a special assize court in Paris. Four men are in the dock. “You know all the facts?” asked the court president. “Yes, completely,” was the short answer.
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Two hours later, however, Khazzani changed his mind. “It was not intended to cause a massacre, the American soldiers were the cause,” he said to the astonishment of the president of the court.
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“Asked three times”
The magistrate was now annoyed. “I have asked you that question three times,” he said. Khazzani insisted on expressing himself in French, but that did not go smoothly. The chairman even asked him to use the interpreter, so that his explanation would go more smoothly.
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On August 21, 2015, a few months before the November 13 attacks in Paris, Khazzani opened fire on the Thalys train Amsterdam-Paris. He had boarded that train in Brussels and was armed with a Kalashnikov and nine full loaders. The then 26-year-old Moroccan was led by Abelhamid Abaaoud, the coordinator of the cell of the terrorist group IS that carried out the attacks in France and Belgium in 2015 and 2016.
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Two passengers injured
Khazzani injured two passengers before being overpowered by three US soldiers on vacation. In this way a massacre was avoided. The perpetrator must answer for ‘attempted murders with a terrorist intent’ and ‘terrorist gangs’.
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The remainder of the session day was devoted to Khazzani’s background. He talked about his childhood in Morocco before emigrating to Spain. At the beginning of 2014 he settled in France and then Belgium. In May 2015 he joined the ranks of the Islamic State in Syria.
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“Lied about everything”
Here his version differs from previous statements on several points. No, he did not sleep on the street in Brussels before leaving for Syria. He was with his sister, he says. “Then why had he lied first?” asked the chairman. “Because I was in another world, I lied about everything,” was the answer.
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Besides Khazzani, three other men are on trial. Bilal Chatra and Mohamed Bakkali have been referred to Assize for complicity in attempted killings with a terrorist intent and terrorist gangs. Redouane Sebbar is only on trial for the second charge. The trial will take until mid-December.
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