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Updated 6.11pm
THE FATHER OF the man shot dead at Orly airport in Paris after attacking a soldier insisted that his son was “not a terrorist” and that his actions were caused by drink and drugs.
Investigators were still trying to understand what motivated the assault by 39-year-old Ziyed Ben Belgacem, which led to a major security scare and the temporary closure of the capital’s second-busiest airport.
The 39-year-old Paris-born Frenchman was killed as he attacked a soldier, grappling with her and trying to steal her assault weapon, ending an hours-long spree of violence.
Ben Belgacem had a string of criminal convictions and showed signs of Islamic radicalisation.
Paris prosecutor Francois Molins described him as “an extremely violent individual” harbouring terrorist instincts and his neighbours said he was a “devil” with a “scary face”.
His rap sheet paints a picture of a seasoned criminal, well-used to courts and spells behind bars. He had nine entries on his record, from violence to receiving stolen goods. In 2001, he was sentenced to five years in prison for armed robbery.
This was not his last stint in prison. In 2009, he was handed successive sentences of three and five years for drug trafficking.
While he was in prison, officials noticed “signs of radicalisation”, according to prosecutor Molins, and he was known to police but not considered a serious threat. His house was searched, with no result.
But despite the French prosecutor linking the attacker to fundamentalism, Belgacem’s father insisted he was not a extremist.
“My son was not a terrorist. He never prayed and he drank,” the father, who was in shock and whose first name was not given, told Europe 1 radio, blaming “drink and cannabis” for his son’s actions.
An autopsy was to to be carried out on Ben Belgacem’s body Sunday to determine if alcohol or drugs were indeed a factor.
‘A scary face’
The attacker lived on the sixth floor of a building in the northeastern Paris suburb of Garges-les-Gonesse, in the multi-ethnic Seine-Saint-Denis area. Neighbours described him to AFP as a withdrawn, serious man who nobody really knew. He seemed lonely, they said.
No one had any idea of his spells in prison, although since his most recent release from jail in September, he had been under judicial monitoring.
“The last time I saw him was three days ago. He had a determined air, as if he wanted to fight with his family or colleagues,” said one neighbour Hamid.
“Sometimes, we’d meet in the elevator, that’s all. He always wore sports clothes. He has a scary face, a real devil,” said Hatice, another neighbour.
At this stage, there is no indication Ben Belgacem had made trips overseas, according to the Paris prosecutor, unlike many other radicalised Islamists.
Officers found several grams of cocaine in the apartment, and he was a regular at an Italian-Cuban bar in the south of Paris, which was known for its rowdy nights, a local said.
It was to this venue he headed immediately after drawing a gun and firing at officers earlier yesterday, slightly injuring one in the head. He then burst into the bar, threatened customers and fired again without injuring anyone.
Telling his relatives by phone that he had been up to some “mischief”, he then drove towards what prosecutors described as the “crescendo” of his destructiveness, stealing a car and heading towards the airport, with a can of petrol and a Koran in his bag.
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Gave up at neo liberal
@SFNutters: the words were too difficult for you? Maybe you might have better luck with this: https://www.cjfallon.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/photo41.jpg
@SFNutters: what an awful article. Full of non-supported arguments, logical fallacies and sweeping generalisations. Turgid stuff. Frankly, we should be measuring things because then we can improve or discard them. The fact that Mary (Jane/ Joe / John) grew up in an area and has a heart DOESN’T necessarily make him/her the right person to help those in need. The author admits addiction is a complex subject but wants only simple solutions delivered by simple people. It was hard to read and complete nonsense.
@lambda sensor: don’t know why you’re trying to discuss it with him. He said he didn’t read it. I do agree that it was full of nonsense, though.
@SFNutters: , Don’t you know anybody with basic level English who would read it for you and explain the the difficult words.
@SFNutters: great bit of stuff
@Brian Ó Dálaigh: their getting plenty of thumbs up
Plenty of accusations in that article but no examples, case studies or even a full explanation of the alledged cons of either ‘professionalism’ or a ‘managerial’ approach. Reads as a politician who is writing merely to draw attention to themselves without actually achieving anything.
@Vocal Outrage: here’s an example. Medical care is privatised in the US. Insulin costs far more than all or most other countries. People are dying. I live in Denmark. Have to have a minor hernia operation. From the time I seen the doctor until my operation next week. About 5/6 weeks. Won’t cost me a penny apart from what I’ve paid in tax. I’m thankful I don’t live in America.
@Dave Thomas: but not an example of the accusations being made in the article, that’s just an example of neo-liberalism with no reference to Ireland
Did she get the tattoos to match the dress, or the dress to match the tattoos?!?!?
@Maximus Decimus Meridius: not the greatest of comments there!
Exactly. Too many publican TDs pretending addiction ISN’T their business….
@The Risen: Ditto, and if addiction issues were solved there would be a fair few charlatans out of work along with a small cohort of genuine workers
Professionalisation and metrics are vital tools in ensuring government funding is put to the best use. Community projects and those they serve can only benefit from proper standards and controls. Those who resist will not survive. What will their service users do them Ms Ruanne ?
Neo liberalism = cut throat self employment with little reward and insecure retirement for the masses.
@Gav Murphy: I think you’re mixing up neo-liberalism with libertarianism. The later fits better with your description whereas neo-liberalism is defined academically as a ‘third-way of politics’ in that it is a middle ground between the right and the left
@Vocal Outrage: It’s meaning has changed over time. Thatcher and Reagan were hardly ‘middle ground between the right and left’ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism
Sadly it is a business – some many hangerson, all the €€€s go to the councilors and clinic and not the victims – just like the homeless racket
@Peter Buchanan: correct, it is a business. People working in the field need to be paid, premises need to be paid for, services need to be paid for & all the funds need to be accountable. The service users are not objects but they are customers in the sense that high numbers are needed to receive high funding. It’s a business just like medical, phara or any other service being provided.
@Mark Dowling: there is a book called RGM recovery group movement$$%%%%%$$$
@Aine Power,
I smell a tad of begrudgery there,I dont the
writing is particulary well written but she is entitled to her oppinion .
Sick of these absolute hypocrites, take a senators salary and can’t write an absolute original article, I have a PhD from Trinity and it’s like a second year essay. Its trite full of quotes from other people.
@Aine Power: Brilliant! So what you have just decreed is that you have a phd and it like a second year essay. It must beg the question? How did manage to receive the PhD?
@Aine Power: thanks for clearing up your intellectual qualifications I await your life story in relation to your journey to PhD land …some people rise to the challenge and serve the people and earn the salary all be it via the alternative route of life experience
@Aine Power: hope you got someone to proof read your PHD.
I think the point she is trying to make is that “cost effective” or neoliberal measurement of addiction issue is likely to measure just the tip of the iceberg
its difficult to understand and measure, and thus easy to ignore or underestimate the complexity of addition as a medical, but mostly psycho-social problem. (addition, almost always runs with, mental illness, poverty, homelessness, unstable families or other personal trauma, physical illness, .. Etc..)
Thus risks attributing not enough of the resrouces to the wrong places, needed to tackle this issue.
Hands on, frontline workers should be given the opportunity to identify needs & suggest resource allocation. Not just some detached person in an office who 2
measures the problem & allocates resourced based on predetermined “check list” of “key performance indicators”, designed to keep down costs is likely to produces good “measured outcomes” which don’t translate into good care on the ground.
@Señor picante: if a politician is going to write an article thr reader shouldn’t have to ‘think the point she is trying to make’, the point they are trying to make should be clear and unambiguous with the reader expecting to think about the substance of the arguments made, not the point of the article itself
The person taking the drugs or whatever is the primary person responsible for their dilemma. There is no point in blaming anyone else. Socialists never seem to grasp or acknowledge that some people are the sole authors of their own misfortune.
I don’t have a degree or PhD but I believe I have a small degree of common sense and reasonable experience of addiction problems. The senators article for me is full of big words with little meaning without some concrete examples of her argument.
Addiction treatment is not a business but it must be run like a business, but where or how we measure the success is very difficult because the treatment of addiction to individuals is an ongoing treatment and can last a number of years success and statistics of a business tend to be yearly based.
Social care now
I agree with most of the criticisms of Sen Ruane’s statement.
In a spirit of debate, I would like to know in detail the alternatives that she proposes. It’s easy to be against something! It’s more challenging to propose alternatives in detail.
Tattoo s on a senator.im appalled.
You need to have walked a 100m in her shoes to understand difficulty in life..addiction…recovery and bettering of oneself …fancy phrasing and wine sipping bullshit just does not qualify as opinion
@Brotherofthebrush: as someone above highlighted, everyone is entitled to their opinion, just because you may not agree with it does not diminish that right
Well said Lynn. Thanks
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