“With the usual reservations, it seems to indicate that Oussama Atar is dead and, importantly, that the judicial investigation continues. It is essential to continue to try to shed light on this dark affair.”

Georges Dallemagne — Belgian Federal representative (February 28, 2018)

“If not for the request by different organizations … Oussama Atar would still be in Iraqi prison.”

Jawad Al-Hindawi — Iraqi Ambassador to Belgium

Injured Indian flight attendant became a symbol of the 2016 Brussels attacks

Brussels, March 21 2020 — There is no longer any doubt that Oussama Atar, a Belgian of Moroccan descent, is the mastermind of the Paris and Brussels attacks. Atar is rumored to be dead, but many questions regarding his activities in Belgium remain unexplained. And no one is investigating an affair that can only be described as a “scandale d’ État”. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

RELATED POST: Paris & Brussels Attacks — Q&A About Oussama Atar in the Belgian Parliament (UPDATE)

RELATED POST: Paris & Brussels Attacks — ‘Mastermind’ Oussama Atar Reported Dead

RELATED POST: Oussama Atar — Belgian Policeman Arrested for Complicity in Brussels Attacks

RELATED POST: Paris attacks — Belgium formally charges Yassine Atar

RELATED POST: Welcome to Belgistan! [Is Belgium a Failed State?]

RELATED POST: Brussels bomb made in Molenbeek. Once again… [UPDATE — June 24 2017]

RELATED POST: Is Belgian ISIS Jihadist Osama Atar the ‘Mastermind’ of the Paris and Brussels attacks?

UPDATE (March 21 2020) — The French Judicial Authorities are prosecuting Oussama Atar as the leader of the Paris (2015) terrorist attacks.

Belgian detectives provided their French colleagues with an important information which was obtained from a jihadi who had returned from Syria to Belgium.

While questioned by Belgian detectives, this returnee stated that Oussama Atar was indeed the mysterious “Abu Ahmed”, the man known to have masterminded both the Paris and the Brussels attacks.

Georges Dallemagne : “The Oussama Atar Affair is a Deep State Scandal.”

Georges Dallemagne (born 17 January 1958 in Belgian Congo), is a Belgian politician and doctor.

“The circumstances of his release when he returned in 2012, the reasons why the Belgian Government actively sought to release him, the reasons why he was not the subject of surveillance measures by the Belgian security on his return from Iraq, the reasons for which a passport was issued to him contrary to the promises of the Belgian authorities towards the Iraqi authorities, are so many enigmas.

The Belgian population and the victims of the attacks in Paris and Brussels have the right to have, one day or the other, as soon as possible, answers to these questions.” (February 28 2018)

N.B. –If your French is a bit rusty, switch on the subtitles with auto-translation. The French to English translation is quite accurate.

END of UPDATE

Brussels March 22 2018 — The attack at the Maelbeek metro station caused 16 deaths, leaving more than one hundred people injured.

This attack followed the explosions which took place at the Zaventem Airport, Brussels.

In total, these attacks caused 32 deaths with 324 people injured to varying degrees.

Still No Answers to Key Questions

Today, there is no longer any doubt that Oussama Atar — a Belgian of Moroccan descent — was mastermind of the Paris and Brussels attacks.

On February 23 2018, French media reported that Oussama Atar was dead. He would have been killed “a few weeks ago” somewhere in the “Syria-Iraq” area. His body was not recovered — no DNA — but French Intelligence services believe that he was killed.

According to an official letter, the Iraqis (Read: “the Americans”) had released Atar on two conditions. First, Atar would not be allowed to travel, and thus the Belgian Foreign Ministry would not give him a passport. Second, his activities would be monitored.

Even though Atar’s name was on the Belgian foreign fighters list, he visited his cousins —  the El Bakraoui brothers, who had been arrested for criminal activity —  at two separate prisons on the outskirts of Brussels more than 20 times. These two cousins are two of the suicide-bombers who later carried out the Brussels attacks.

The Belgian Foreign Ministry did immediately issue a passport to Ousama Atar after his release from an Iraqi jail. The reasons for this remain a mystery to this day.

And Two Additional Mysteries

In May 2006, the CIA informed the Belgian Intelligence Services that Oussama Atar was jailed at Cropper Camp in Iraq. Why on earth would the CIA even care? Why such a totally unusual procedure?

If senator Georges Dallemagne — or anyone else — wants to know the truth, I suggest to pull at that thread.

And, by the way, you may also wonder why the main Belgian Telecom operator — PROXIMUS — was unable to cope with the heavy traffic on that day?

Officially, the CEO of that company told a Parliament Commission that an environmental law limiting the power of GSM antennas was to be blamed for the lack of capacity.

It is a lie. In truth, PROXIMUS was hit by a technical problem in the morning of the attacks. Bad luck?

UPDATE (March 22 2019) — On November 7 2018, French news website, Mediapart, citing France’s General Directorate of External Security, confirms that Oussama Atar was killed by an airstrike by the international anti-jihadist coalition in Syria.

“On November 17th, 2017, a strike by the international coalition in Syria killed the Belgian Oussama Atar.”

Its statement follows the opening of an investigation, which has revealed that the seven people, believed to be the masterminds of the Paris and Brussels attacks, have all been killed in Syria.

The Belgian Federal Prosecution Service did not wish to comment upon the information.

So, Atar is dead, but many questions regarding his activities in Belgium remain unexplained.

TIMELINE

1985 May 4 — Born in Laeken, Belgium

1999/2000 — First visit to Syria. Lives in Idlib

2002 — Ousama Atar travels to Syria

2004 — Atar goes back in 2004 before travelling to Iraq.

2005 — Arrested in Ramadi for crossing the border illegally/weapons trafficking

2005 May 24 —  Life sentence

2006 May — The CIA informs the Belgian Intelligence Services that Oussama Atar is jailed at Cropper Camp in Iraq.

2006 — A Belgian Intelligence officer — André Jacob — is sent to Iraq to interview Oussama Atar. The ‘interview’ lasted about one week.

2007 February 28 — Under pressure from the Belgian government, the sentence is reduced to 10 years

2008 April 9 — Atar’s release from jail is decided at the highest level of the Belgian Government by the Comité Ministeriel de Renseignement et de la Sureté [CMRS].

2008 April 18 — The Belgian Foreign Ministry requests Atar’s release. In exchange, it offers promises that will be monitored and not allowed to travel (no passport).

2009  — A letter sent from the US Embassy to Belgian officials in Jordan outlines how Atar attempted a  prison break with terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi

2010 May — Amnesty International raises concerns about Atar’s  general state of well-being to the Iraqi authorities

2010 Summer — Atar receives a consular visit from the Belgian embassy in Amman

2010 October 9 — The Belgian government [Website of Foreign Affairs] publicly reveals that repeated requests were made by Belgium to the Iraqi government to consider an early release of Oussama Atar for humanitarian reasons

2010 October 9 — Belgian politicians Zoé Genot, Ahmed Mouhssine, Jamal Ikazban and Ahmed El Khannouss participate in a campaign to free Oussama Atar

2010 November 14 — Amnesty International “call for action” to activists. “Oussama Atar, a 26-year-old Belgian national, is in need of urgent medical care at al-Rusafa Prison in Iraq.” [This information is false]

2012 September 16 —  Oussama Atar returns to Belgium

2013 — Belgian Foreign Ministry delivers a passport to Oussama Atar

2013 December 30 — Atar is arrested in Hammamet, Tunisia. He is released and disappears. He later reappears in the Syria-Irak area.

2015 (Summer) — Belgian Police learns that Khalid El Bakraoui asked friends to gather “as much Kalashnikov ammunition as possible”.

2015 October 21 — Khalid El Bakraoui’s house is searched. Investigators find “calls for jihad” and “photos of known terrorists” on his laptop. Nothing is done. He is NOT arrested.

2015 November 13 — Paris attacks

2015 December — After the arrest of two “returnees” from Syria, the investigators learned about known as ‘Abu Ahmad’,  a terrorist involved in recruiting a number of Islamist militants for attacks in Europe. Later, a computer — found in garbage — establishes the identity of Abu Ahmad as Oussama Atar.

2016 March 22 — Brussels attacks

2017 June 2 — Yassine Atar — brother of Oussama — is charged with ‘terrorist assassinations’

2017 November 17 — a strike by the international coalition in Syria kills the Belgian Oussama Atar

2018 February 22 — Oussama Atar is reported dead

2018 November 7 — French news website, Mediapart, citing France’s General Directorate of External Security, confirms that Oussama Atar was killed

 2019 November 29 — French anti-terror prosecutors formally indict 20 suspects. Oussama Atar is accused as the mastermind of the attacks.

REFERENCES

Maelbeek station maintains a poignant silence — Brussels Times

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Remembering the Brussels Attacks — March 22 2016

On This Day — Remembering the Brussels Attacks (March 22, 2016)

On This Day — Remembering the Brussels Attacks (March 22, 2016) [2020]