APPREHENDED
- Full name: Mourad Farès
- Pseudonym: Mourad al-Faransi, Abu Rachid, Abu Hassan
- Alternatives: Mourad Hadji
- Location: France, fmr Syria, fmr Turkey
- Affiliation: fmr Support Front for the People of the Levant [JaNS], fmr Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh]
Mourad Farès (°1984) is an Islamist of Moroccan descent from the French department of Haute-Savoye. He got a science bachelor in 2005 but failed to make a career.1 As a young man, Farès was not particularly religious. He partied and drank alcohol until he turned to Islam following the death of a beloved cousin in October 2012.2 Farès broke up with his gay boyfriend and made a pilgrimage to Mecca.3 Before long, he became interested in jihad and got in touch with Omar Diaby.4 The two men met a few times and Farès came under Diaby’s influence.5
Farès began advocating jihad among French Muslim immigrants and became an active proponent of armed struggle to advance the cause of Islam on social media.6 He inspired Muslims from Lyon, Paris and Strasbourg to take an interest in the Syrian Civil War.7 At first, Farès helped distribute al-Qa’ida propaganda on the internet, but soon became a supporter of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiya fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham].8
In July 2013, Farès and two associates traveled to Syria and joined the DaIISh.9 He underwent military training, but soon left the organization to link up with Daiby’s francophone unit of the Support Front for the People of the Levant [JaNS; Jabhat al-Nusra li-Ahl al-Sham].10 Farès quickly turned into an influential propagandist for the group.11 He made videos extolling the virtues of jihad in Syria and mentored young Muslims in France on social media.12 Farès reportedly convinced at least forty of his followers to join him in Syria.13 He recruited minors from Avignon and Toulouse and inspired a mother to take her two-year-old daughter to Syria.14 At the same time, Farès guided the Strasbourg-Meinau Jihadi Network [FJSM; Filière Jihadiste de Strasbourg-Meinau and helped organize the travel of ten of its members to Syria in December 2013.15 Once in Syria, they failed to link up with him and joined the DaIISh instead. Farès was also in contact with associates of Lunel’s Islamist community and is furthermore known to have recruited jihadis from Belgium and Switzerland.16 He also acted as a logistics operative.17 In that capacity, Farès organized crossings of the Turco-Syrian border and maintained transit centers in hotels on both sides of the frontier.18
At the beginning of 2014, Farès was left in charge of Diaby’s unit as the latter made a trip to Senegal.19 He managed the cell’s affairs but was apparently not involved in directing armed activities.20 Shortly after Diaby’s return to Syria a few months later, Farès had a fallout with his former mentor.21 Fearful of angry Diaby and DaIISh operatives who considered him a traitor, he fled Syria in July 2014.22 After learning that Farès was on the move, the French authorities issued an international arrest warrant for him on Jul. 24, 2014.23
Turkish security forces apprehended Farès on Aug. 16, 2014.24 While in custody, he contacted French intelligence services to negotiate his surrender.25 Farès was extradited to France in September 2014.26 After having avoided prosecution in the 2016 case against the FJSM, he was finally brought to trial in early 2020.27 During proceedings, Farès showed remorse for his actions.28 He was sentenced to 22 years in prison on Jan. 25, 2020.29
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