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The head of Morocco’s counterterrorism agency has commented on the latest terrorist attack that targeted two cities in southern France on March the 23rd. Abdelhak Khiame couldn’t hide his concerns as the French authorities did not alert their Moroccan counterparts about the extremist behavior of Redouane Lakdim, a Moroccan-born French who shot two occupants of a car in Carcassonne, opened fire on a policeman and then killed two people in a supermarket he raided in Trebes.
Speaking to Associated Press on Tuesday, Khiame explained that France «had monitored» assailant Redouane Lakdim before the day of the attack. «We were not notified about Lakdim’s background», he stated.
The director of the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) calls the situation a «misunderstanding», pointing out that the French authorities are supposed to share information on radicalized dual nationals and Redouane was one of them.
According to him, and after investigating Lakdim’s family members in the Kingdom following the attack, the agency discovered that he showed no signs of radicalism and that the last time he has been to Morocco dates back to 2012. Khiam insisted that during this visit, Lakdim did not raise any suspicions, reports the same source.
The BCIJ's cooperation with Europe
The information relayed by the American news agency is quite surprising as Morocco’s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation has already helped the European authorities investigate radicalized suspects in the past.
The agency, which dismantled 40 terrorist cells and arrested 548 people since 2015, has been of a great help to the European intelligence services, locating, thwarting and sharing valuable information about cells and individuals intending to carry out terrorist attacks in the continent. This was confirmed by Khiam himself in an interview conducted by Belgian newspaper La Dernière Heure.
«Several attacks that were about to be committed in European countries, notably in France, Spain and Belgium, have been foiled through an exchange of important information between Moroccan security services and their European counterparts», said Khiam.
Speaking to the same Belgian source, the BCIJ director indicated that Morocco never «holds» information that is important for the security of these countries. He pointed out that cooperation between these nations has helped dismantle a terrorist cell in Verviers, Belgium, localize the main suspect of the Paris attacks Abdelhamid Abaaoud, and provide vital information about on the run terrorists.
The Central Bureau’s services covered also Spain, which chose to officially collaborate with Morocco to fight against terrorism. In August, and after the Barcelona attacks, Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftite held talks with his Spanish counterpart, Juan Ignacio Zoido, Abdellatif Hammouchi, head of the Moroccan secret services, accompanied by Abdelhak El Khiam.
For the record, a few days before the attack in Carcassonne and Trebes, Redouane Lakdim had received a letter from the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) inviting him to show up for interrogation, a source from the police told on Tuesday AFP.
In fact, Lakdim was summoned up to be informed that his file will be dropped by the services. This was confirmed by French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb today, 28th of March, while speaking to France Inter. «It is true that he had received a summons, but it was rather to tell him that we are dropping his file». The Minister added that an investigation showed that no one thought he would carry such attack.
