STATUS UNKNOWN
- Full name: Abdelkader el-Farssaoui
- Pseudonym: Abu Jaber
- Alternatives: N/a
- Location: N/a
- Affiliation: fmr Khalid Zerkani Network [KZN], fmr Jean-Louis Denis Network [JLDN]
Abdelkader el-Farssaoui (°ca 1963) is a Moroccan jihadi who has long been involved in militant activity in Europe. In the early 2000s, Farssaoui served as an imam in Madrid’s Villaverde suburb. During this time, he was apparently recruited as an intelligence asset by Moroccan and Spanish security services.1 Allegedly at their behest, he infiltrated radical networks operating in Spain. Farssaoui reportedly also worked with Belgian intelligence services.2 In 2009, American intelligence specialists outed Farssaoui as a double agent working for the jihadis.3
Farssaoui became an influential member of Europe’s jihadi community in the following years. He was linked to several high-profile militants. Farssaoui was connected and possibly acted as a mentor to Mohammed Merah, the terrorist who attacked a Jewish school and French soldiers in central France in 2012.4 At the same time, he was also linked to Mohammed Achamlane who headed the Nice-based Knights of Pride [FA; Forsane Alizza].5
Farssaoui became involved with the Jean-Louis Denis Network [JLDN] in the early 2010s. He operated a travel agency in Brussels through which he facilitated the travel of Belgian jihadis to Syria.6 Farssaoui maintained close contacts with Turkish logistical support networks.7 As Belgian authorities cracked down on the JLDN and other jihadi entities operating in the country, Farssaoui disappeared.8 His current status is unknown.
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