Saïd M’nari (Jihadi Militant, Belgium)

• Full name: Saïd M’nari
• Pseudonym: Abu Mohammed
• Alternatives: N/a
• Location: Belgium, Syria
• Affiliation:  fmr Holy Warriors Consultative Council [MSM], fmr Shar’ia for Belgium Movement [Sh4B], fmr Hassan Hamdaoui Module [HHM]

Saïd M’nari (°1978) is a longtime jihadi operative from Antwerp. He became involved in militancy as a logistics provider for Chechen jihadis under the command of Ahmed Chatayev. M’nari was arrested in 2008 during a crackdown on the network after Swedish police had apprehended Chatayev as he was smuggling explosives and firearms.¹

In 2010, M’nari was linked to the Hassan Hamdaoui Module [HHM] whose members were planning to carry out attacks in Belgium and send fighters to Chechnya.² He was apparently instrumental in brokering contacts between the cell and Chechen jihadi networks.³

M’nari also joined the Shari’a for Belgium Movement [Sh4B] in early 2010. He soon became an influential member who coordinated the movement’s activities and helped to manage its finances.⁴ M’nari was seen as a hardliner within Sh4B. Following the arrest of its leader Fouad Belkacem, M’nari stepped up as one of the movement’s interim leaders.⁵

Following the disbandment of Sh4B, M’nari traveled to Syria in March 2013 and joined Amr al-Absi’s Holy Warriors Consultative Council [MSM, Majlis Shura al-Mujahideen].⁶ Little is known about his stay in Syria.

M’nari allegedly returned to Belgium in July 2013 and secretly lived in the town of Tienen until December 2015.⁷ In February 2015, an Antwerp court sentenced him in absentia to fifteen years in prison for his involvement in Sh4B.⁸ Belgian police arrested M’nari in Antwerp on Jun. 25, 2016.⁹ An appeals court later confirmed his conviction.¹⁰