Vilvoorde man possibly identified on terrorist footage

The federal prosecutor’s office is carrying out an investigation into claims that one of the men visible on the latest video released by the terrorist organisation IS is a man from Vilvoorde. Belgium’s state security services spotted the 28-year-old on the video, in which several beheadings are taking place, including that of American aid worker Peter Kassig.

The man has been identified as Abdelmajid Gharmaoui, one of the accused at the Sharia4Belgium trial, currently adjourned, who failed to turn up for the proceedings. According to a post he made to Facebook, he is currently based in Dabiq in the north of Syria. According to statements made in the video, Dabiq is where the video was made shot.

The identification has been contested by Hans Bonte, mayor of Vilvoorde. “We are absolutely certain that this Vilvoorde man is not seen on the video,” he told news agency Belga. Bonte is active on the issue of young radicalised Muslim men who go to Syria to fight and said he did not want that problem to become diverted into “a manhunt for one young man”.

He did add that men from his city are active in Syria. “Young men from Vilvoorde and elsewhere in Flanders are involved in the most horrific actions there,” he said. Bonte has prepared a bill to go before parliament that would allow the authorities to withdraw the travel documents of minors suspected of being intent on going to Syria.

The authorities in Vilvoorde are currently monitoring the activities of 16 minors, he revealed. “In other cities, the figure must be a multiple of that,” he said.

photo: State security has identified this man as Vilvoorde resident Abdelmajid Gharmaoui