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An abandoned wooden table stands on the pavement outside the center of the coastal town of Sfax in southern Tunisia. Empty plastic bottles are thrown next to him. A barrel of blue oil rests on a rock.
The metal roof provides some shade from the strong November sun.
There are no people here and this has been the case for several weeks. For many Tunisians, this place is associated with shame.
The 21-year-old terrorist Ibrahim Aoussaoui worked at this gas station.
NRK has spoken with Ibrahim Aoussaoui’s father and friend in Tunisia. It is the friend who has taken the photo of the kiosk where Aoussaoui worked and it is he and his father who tell his last days before the French police shot him and was seriously injured.
Ahmed, Ibrahim’s friend, places a plastic bottle on the table of the kiosk where Ibrahim worked.
Photo: Private Photo: Private
Terror
On October 29, three innocent people are killed with a knife in the church of Notre-Dame in the city of Nice, in southern France. A 60-year-old woman had her head cut off while the terrorist shouted “Allah Akbar” – “God is great.” Aoussaoui is accused of having done it.
The attack on the church is one of several attacks that have affected Europe in recent times.
A woman lights a candle in front of the church where Ibrahim killed three people.
Photo: VALERY HACHE / AFPPhoto: VALERY HACHE / AFP
In Tunisia, they are fighting to shake off the rise of radical Islamists.
Just a few years ago, the country was seen as a model for peaceful democratic change.
In 2015, even four Tunisian organizations received the Nobel Peace Prize. At that time, Ibrahim Aoussaoui was only 11 years old. The father says he just dropped out of primary school and started working in a motorcycle workshop.
A continent under attack
Nice, October 29 this year. It is Wednesday night, the clock is approaching 22.
Aoussaoui has just arrived in the coastal town after a long journey from Italy. He doesn’t know anyone here, so he decides to spend the night on the church steps this cool October afternoon, his father told NRK.
At this time, no one knows that Ibrahim Aoussaoui will carry out a terrorist attack shortly.
Ibrahim Aoussaoui traveled from Sfax to Lampedusa, then through Bari in Italy to Nice. There he attacked three innocents with a knife.
So far this year, Europe has been affected by ten attacks. The security police have prevented six other terrorist attacks. All have been carried out by extremist Islamists.
On October 17, a teacher is beheaded on the outskirts of Paris after showing caricatures of Muhammad to his students. Once again, the Prophet’s drawings provoke anger in some parts of the Muslim world.
Preparedness against terrorism in Europe is now at its highest level. In Norway, the PST has tightened security after several terrorist incidents.
– The latest attacks in France and Austria show that we are facing a threat and we should expect further attacks in the future. It would be naive to believe otherwise, says Petter Nesser, a researcher at the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment. He is one of the leading European experts on terrorism.
Church steps rings
It is getting dark in Nice and the father says that the son is calling his sister to their home in Tunis from the steps of the church. She is one of nine siblings, and perhaps the closest to him.
– The two have had close contact because Ibrahim is the youngest and still lives at home, his father tells NRK by phone from Sfax in Tunisia.
The family had moved to this industrial city 20 years ago. They came from a small town in the middle of the country to the second largest city in Tunisia with the hope of a better life. The father worked in the construction industry and eventually had ten children. Ibrahim is the youngest.
Mohammed, the father of Ibrahim Aoussaoui, would like to apologize if it is true that his son was behind the terrorist attack in Nice.
Photo: Private Photo: Private
The two brothers chat as they always did that night. Ibrahim shares photos and videos of the arduous journey through the Mediterranean and says that he will look for work in France the next day.
It says nothing about the knife. Nothing about what will happen when the sun rises.
According to the father, no one in the family knew that the son had traveled to Europe. He had just disappeared, before they got a call from Italy.
Ibrahim Aoussaoui said he was in Lampedusa. The island that many human traffickers have as their destination for their travels.
Here, many thousands of people are interned in refugee camps, before the vast majority are sent back to Africa. It is a journey that costs many thousands of crowns.
But Aoussaoui is not being sent to Africa. He manages to go further north, further away from a country that is facing great economic problems.
Go to europe
In Tunisia, unemployment has skyrocketed. Korona’s situation has made it even more difficult for many, if possible.
Highly educated young Tunisians now have problems too. They see no future in their own country, so many are trying to reach Europe illegally.
So far this year, almost 10,000 Tunisians have done like Aoussaoui and have arrived on the island of Lampedusa in Italy. A trip that costs between 15,000 and 20,000 Norwegian crowns.
The hope of a democratic change
Nine years ago, in 2011, the situation was completely different. Prime Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was forced to resign in what was to be the beginning of the “Arab Spring”. The world looked to the country with hope and many Tunisians believed in a better future, but that did not happen.
High unemployment and a region at war turned the great dream of democratic change into a nightmare.
Radical leaders, long under the control of dictator Ben Ali, were released from prison in the hope of peaceful change. Instead, these leaders became important players in recruiting for new conflicts. Thousands of Tunisians were recruited by jihadist groups to participate in Syria, Iraq and later Libya.
According to figures from the Tunisian authorities, 3,000 Tunisian men and women enlisted in the terrorist group IS. But the number is estimated to be higher. The UN estimates that around 6,000 Tunisians have joined various terrorist organizations around the world. Few other countries have such a large proportion of the population involved in terrorism. According to a Washington Institute report, up to 30,000 people were detained before they could travel to Iraq or Syria.
– Those who recruit are professionals, patients and manage to find the weaknesses of those who are hired. If someone needs to get married, help them. If someone is struggling with money, help them. From this point, the radicalization process begins, explains human rights activist Moez Ali, who has been following radical groups in Tunisia for several years.
He has also been to Syria on several occasions and has met with Tunisian jihadists.
– The people of Tunisia are now at a crossroads. They have to decide. Either they are Muslims before Tunisians or Tunisians before Muslims. This identity crisis is affecting many young people in Tunisia, says Ali.
Terrorism researcher Petter Nesser has long followed jihadist groups. It says that Tunisian jihadists have a long tradition dating back to Afghanistan in the 1980s.
Jihadists also have a good network in Europe and he believes that our democratic societies give terrorists freedom of action.
– In a society with strong legal protection, we will experience limits to how harsh countermeasures can be taken against the most extreme. In this way, there will always be a place for extremists in Europe, says Nesser.
School stop
Like many children in Tunisia, Aoussaoui dropped out of school after sixth grade. The father says he had several different jobs, including in a workshop. After a few years, it began selling fuel that had been smuggled from, among other places, neighboring Libya. An illegal business that has employed thousands of Tunisians.
It should not have been the first time that Ibrahim Aoussaoui tried to reach Europe, but he had failed. September 20 was different. He managed to reach Lampedusa, and from the small Mediterranean island he sends photos to his friend Ahmed.
Ibrahim sends several photos of himself when he has finally arrived in Lampedusa. The friend then does not know what he will do in a few days.
Photo: Private
The 29-year-old was a close friend of Aoussaoui and the only one who knew about his travel plans to Europe.
– Ibrahim told me four days before that he was going to Italy. He wanted to do something about his own future. France was not the target. The most important thing was to get out of Tunis. He called me and my family the day before the terrorist attack. Everything seemed normal.
The attack
Daylight begins to dawn on the steps of the church in Nice. Aoussaoui’s journey has been long and complicated. Surveillance photos show him as he enters the train station near the church. There he changes his shoes and turns his jacket over. Then come back.
At 08:30 the church opens. Half an hour later, the police receive a report of an attack. Television footage shows police officers entering the church where Aoussaoui was standing. Another photo shows Aoussaoui shot and handcuffed.
We sent the photo to my friend Ahmed. Confirm that this is your friend.
– I was surprised when I found out about the attack. I didn’t think he would have done it and I don’t think so now. Ibrahim was in the wrong place at the wrong time, says Ahmed by phone from Tunisia.
Aoussaoui’s father also does not believe his son had anything to do with the terrorist attack.
– We did not immediately know what had happened, but two days later we were called to question us by the local police. They told us that our son is accused of killing three people in France. It was a shock, because my son doesn’t do those things.
– Don’t you think your son did it?
– No, we don’t think so. Because there is no evidence to suggest that he was a peaceful person.
– What do you want to tell the French authorities?
– We need video evidence linking our son to the terrorist attack.
The French police are quite clear that they believe they have arrested the right person, and there are video footage of Aoussaoui being arrested with a knife in his hand outside the church.
Aoussaoui was shot after the knife attack, but police have not yet heard him. Aoussaoui is still in the hospital with serious injuries.
Investigating the terrorist connection
French police are investigating a possible link between the terrorist attack in Nice and the murder of a teacher in Paris. In fact, they have found a photo of the man behind the teacher’s murder on Aoussaoui’s phone.
Based on the French investigation, it may appear that Aoussaoui acted alone. They don’t see any network connection or influence directed at him.
There are still many doubts about Aoussaoui’s story, and while he’s in a coma, the police may not get the final answers.
– In general, the investigation concludes that those who have carried out this type of attacks have had contact with organized environments and / or have been influenced by these environments, says Petter Nesser.
If it turns out your son was late, would you apologize to the bereaved?
– If you have done that, I will apologize, says the father to NRK.
The investigation so far has shown that Aoussaoui has had a photo of the man who was behind the teacher’s murder in Paris. In addition, the French police have found several images of ISIS on Aoussaoui’s phone, as well as an audio recording in which he calls France a country of infidels.
