Abdelhamid Abaaoud: Paris terrorist

Abaaoud,  father of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who is suspected by European authorities of being one of the masterminds of the Paris terrorist attacks, has rejected his son’s behaviour and denounced him in Belgian media.

The Moroccan immigrants said on Wednesday in an interview in Brussels that he was so ashamed of his son.

“I am ashamed of Abdelhamid, my son.  Why would he want to kill innocent Belgians? Our family owes everything to this country.’’

Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a 28-year-old Belgian national who featured prominently in Islamic State propaganda this year, is suspected by European authorities of being one of the masterminds of the Paris terrorist attacks.

A report from Belgium said Islamic State’s magazine Dabiq, which was distributed over social media, featured him in an edition that came out in February.

“In one photo he is smiling, wearing military fatigues and holding an assault rifle.

“In a second, he stands in front of an armoured car and holds the black Islamic State flag and a copy of the Koran,’’ it said.

It said further that in the interview with Dabiq, he boasted about his involvement in a terrorist cell in Belgium.

Authorities in Brussels have suspected he was involved with an Islamist gang. A police raid in January in the eastern city Verviers left two of the cell members dead.

Abaaoud claimed there was a gun battle lasting 10 minutes at the end of which his two comrades, known as Abuz-Zubayr al-Baljiki and Abu-Khalid al-Baljiki were killed.

He said both have desired for so long for death.

Abaaoud said he travelled to Syria and claimed he was stopped by European border guards but managed to evade capture after the shootout in January.

“All this proves that a Muslim should not fear the bloated image of the crusader intelligence.

“My name and picture were all over the news yet I am able to stay in their homeland, plan operations against them, and leave safely when doing so became necessary,’’ he said.

He also talked about smuggling himself into Europe to “terrorise the crusaders waging war against the Muslims’’.

He was notoriously recorded in a 2014 video driving a car dragging mutilated bodies and boasting about killing apostates.

Abaaoud claimed in an Islamic State publication that he evaded capture this year after European officials failed to recognise and arrest him.