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Abdelbaki Es Satty

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Moroccan imam who planned the 2017 Barcelona attacks

Abdelbaki Es Satty
Born1973
Morocco
Died16 August 2017 (aged 44)
Alcanar, Spain
Cause of deathAccidental death from explosion
NationalityMoroccan
Known forPlanning the 2017 Barcelona attacks

Abdelbaki Es Satty (Arabic: عبدالباقي إس ستي; 1973 – 16 August 2017) was a Moroccan imam in Ripoll, Spain. On 21 August, he was confirmed to have died in an accidental explosion in Alcanar on 16 August, which began the 2017 Barcelona attacks. Satty is believed to have been the mastermind of the planned attacks and to have radicalised the twelve terrorists responsible into the Takfir wal-Hijra sect, which allows adherents to copy typically "Western" behaviour often forbidden in Islam in order to conceal their radicalisation and terror plans. However, he was also serving as an informant to Spain's intelligence agency, CNI.

Previous terrorist and criminal activities

Es Satty was implicated in the 2006 Operation Chacal, in which five Islamists were arrested for sending jihadis to fight in Iraq. From 2003 he had shared an apartment with Islamists connected to the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM) and the 2003 Casablanca bombings.

In 2012, the imam completed a four-year prison sentence for drug trafficking in Castellón. While in prison, he is reported to have established a "special friendship" with Rachid Aglif [es], who was serving an 18-year sentence for his role in the 2004 Madrid train bombings.

He was convicted of drug smuggling in 2014 and was to be deported from Spain, but Es Satty claimed deportation violated his human rights and he remained in Spain. A successful asylum application in November 2014 facilitated him moving freely in the 26 EU countries of the Schengen area.

Es Satty, who had been employed as imam at the Ripoll mosque since 2015, quit "abruptly" in June. He had also stayed in Belgium for some three months in 2016, where he had been searching for work, including in Vilvoorde.

An official who works on de-radicalisation in Belgium said that Es Satty tried to secure a post at a mosque near Brussels but the elders decided he should not be allowed to preach due to his "radicalised and polarising" approach. Investigators believe the imam might be aligned with the Salafist movement, but this might not be unusual, as one in three Islamic prayer centers in Catalonia are.

He has been described as "unfailingly courteous and studiously discreet", betraying no radicalism in his appearance and interactions with those who did not know him, and training those in his terrorist cell to also lead double lives.

Barcelona attacks

Es Satty had been renting a room in the house in Alcanar for four months. On 16 August, he told his roommate that he was leaving for a trip to Morocco.

On 16 August 2017, the house was destroyed in an explosion. Satty and another man, Youssef Aallaa, died in the explosion.

Initially thinking it was an accidental gas explosion, police hours later discovered that the explosion was caused by stockpiled explosives accidentally going off. The explosive TATP and 120 canisters of butane and propane were found inside the house. There was speculation that the terrorists had intended to take trucks loaded with explosives and combustible gas to attack the Sagrada Família.

References

  1. Musseau, François (24 August 2017). "In Ripoll, the mysteries of the two-faced imam". Libération (in French). Retrieved 25 August 2017. Abdelbaki Es Satty, arrived in Spain from his native Morocco in 2002
  2. Alsedo, Quico; Herraíz, Pablo (31 August 2017). "Shadows and errors in the investigation of the attacks of Barcelona and Cambrils". El Mundo (in Spanish). Madrid: Unidad Editorial. Retrieved 25 August 2017. Documentation of Es Satty (Morocco, 1973), who had arrived in Spain in 2002, was found in 2006
  3. Oller, Alex; Wilson, Joseph; Hinnant, Lori. "Manhunt Continues for Barcelona Driver and Missing Moroccan Imam". Time. Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  4. ^ Cockburn, Harry (21 August 2017). "Barcelona attack: Imam at centre of investigation among dead in house explosion". Independent. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  5. "Barcelona attack: Suspected van driver shot dead by police". BBC News. BBC. 21 August 2017. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  6. Irujo, José María (26 August 2017). "El imán aleccionó a los terroristas en la corriente más clandestina del salafismo". El País (in Spanish). Madrid: Prisa. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  7. "Barcelona terror attack leader was an informer for Spanish intelligence till the end". Barcelona: El Nacional. 16 July 2019.
  8. Guillem Sànchez; Antonio Baquero; Ángeles Vázquez. "The Ripoll imam, linked with a terrorist recruiting investigation after the Madrid Train Bombings". El Periódico (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 August 2017. Operation Chacal, copies of Abdelbaki Es Satty's personal IDs were found at the home of one of the main defendants, Mohamed Mrabet Fhasi, a butcher from Vilanova i la Geltrú
  9. Mark White. "Spain attacks: Imam had links to 2004 Madrid bomber". Sky News. Retrieved 25 August 2017. Es Satty's name also reportedly turned up in Operation Jackal, in which five extremists were convicted for recruiting young men around seaside towns south of Barcelona.
  10. "Abdelbaki Es Satty: el imán de Ripoll estaba conectado con el yihadismo desde 2003". El Independiente (in Spanish). 20 August 2017.
  11. "Who is Abdelbaki Es Satty: Ripoll's imam and alleged mastermind of the terrorist cell got out of jail in 2012". 20 Minutos (in Spanish). 20 August 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  12. Daniel Somolinos. "The Ripoll imam shared prison in Castellón with a Madrid Bomber convict". El Mundo. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  13. Guillem Sànchez; Antonio Baquero; Ángeles Vázquez. "The Ripoll imam, linked with a terrorist recruiting investigation after the Madrid Train Bombings". El Periódico (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  14. Strange, Hannah; Dixon, Hayley; Rothwell, James; Badcock, James (20 August 2017). "Spanish police close in 'on suspect related to attacks' in Barcelona and Cambrils". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  15. "Imam behind Barcelona terror attacks used human rights to fight deportation from Spain". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  16. Angus Berwick. "In quiet mountain town, Barcelona attackers went under radar". Reuters. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  17. "Spain terror attacks: Authorities investigate missing imam, mysterious explosion". CBS. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  18. ^ "Barcelona attack suspect 'hijacked car to escape'". BBC News. 21 August 2017.
  19. Jordi Pérez Colomé; Marta Rodríguez; Patricia Ortega Dolz. "How an imam created the terror cell behind the Barcelona terror attack". El País. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  20. Rubin, Alissa J.; Kingsley, Patrick; Karasz, Palko (23 August 2017). "How a Shadowy Imam Evaded Scrutiny and Forged the Barcelona Cell". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  21. "Los Mossos registran la vivienda del imán de Ripoll". ABC (in Spanish). 19 August 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  22. Sillés, Quico (19 August 2017). "El Imán salafista de Ripoll, lider de la célula yihadista en el atentado en Barcelona". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  23. Mitchell, Jonathan (20 August 2017). "Barcelona attack: Police discover 120 gas canisters stored by terror group for horrific atrocities". Evening Standard. Press Association. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  24. Redacción (24 August 2017). "Los Mossos confirman que Youssef Aallaa murió en la explosión de Alcanar". Telemadrid (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  25. Minder, Raphael; Callimachi, Rukimi (19 August 2017). "Spain Looking for Moroccan Man in Barcelona Attack Investigation". The New York Times. p. 9. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  26. "Barcelona attack: Spain terror cell had 120 gas canisters". BBC News. BBC. 20 August 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  27. Alexander, Harriet. "Massive explosion at Alcanar house on Wednesday night linked to Barcelona terror attack". Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  28. Zitun, Yoav (19 August 2017). "'Terrorists planned on destroying Barcelona's Sagrada Familia church'". Ynetnews. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
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