APPREHENDED
- Full name: Moez Ben Abdelkader Ben Ahmed Fezzani
- Pseudonym: Abu Nassim
- Alternatives: N/a
- Location: Libya, Sudan
- Affiliation: Islamic State’s Sabratha Network [DaISN], Islamic State’s Province of Tripoli [DaIT], formerly Partisans of Shari’a in Tunisia [AST], formerly Base Organization [AQC], formerly Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat [GSPC]
Moez Fezzani (°1969) is a long-time jihadi operative from Tunisia. He became an adherent of radical Salafism after emigrating to Italy in the late 1980s.1 Before becoming a pious Muslim, Fezzani sold hashish to earn money.2 He subsequently took up jobs in construction and lived across Italy.3 In the mid-1990s, Fezzani eventually settled in Milan where he soon recruited and radicalized fighters for a militant network that supported jihadis taking part in the Bosnian War.4
Since 1997, Fezzani acted as an operative of the Italian logistical network of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat [GSPC; Jama’a as-Salafiya lid Da’awa wal-Qital]. He continued to recruit jihadis.5 In the late 1990s, Fezzani also started traveling to Afghanistan and Pakistan where he linked up with Osama Bin Laden’s al-Qa’ida movement.6
In 2001, Fezzani joined al-Qa’ida in Afghanistan.7 He was forced to flee the country following the Taliban’s defeat later that year. Pakistani security forces captured Fezzani in the city of Peshawar in 2002.8 He was later transferred to the American army which kept him at the Bagram military detention facility.9
The American authorities extradited Fezzani to Italy on Dec. 22, 2009.10 The Italians put him on trial for his role in coordinating jihadi activities in the country in the 1990s.11 A court acquitted Fezzani and the Italian authorities subsequently deported him to Tunisia in April 2012.12
Upon Fezzani’s arrival in his home country, he joined the Partisans of Shari’a in Tunisia [AST; Ansar Achariaâ].13 Fezzani did not stay long in Tunisia. In 2013, he traveled to Syria where he linked up with the al-Qa’ida-affiliated Support Front for the People of the Levant [JaNS; Jabhat al-Nusra li-Ahli ash-Sham].14
Fezzani switched allegiance in 2014 and became a member of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiya fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham].15 Later that year, he traveled to Libya and teamed up with local affiliates of the organization. Fezzani became a senior operative of the Islamic State’s Sabratha Network [DaISN] which was made up of Tunisian jihadis based in Libya.16 He also provided financial and logistical assistance to Tunisian militants traveling between Libya and Syria.17 At the same time, Fezzani also acted as a key leader of the Islamic State’s Province of Tripoli [DaIT; Dawlat al-Islamiya Wilayat Tarabulus] in Sirte.18 From the city, he reportedly oversaw the recruitment of jihadis from Italy.19 Fezzani maintained close contacts with a Milan-based logistics network aligned to the DaIISh.20
In the meanwhile, Fezzani was sentenced by an Italian appeals court to more than five years in prison for his involvement in terrorism in the preceding decade.21
Fezzani helped plan the March 2015 attack by DaISN operatives on a museum in Tunis.22 Later that year, he was also involved in preparations for the outfit’s attack on beachgoers in Sousse.23 Fezzani was also linked to the November 2015 suicide bombing against a bus carrying members of the presidential guard in the Tunisian capital city.24 Dozens of people were killed in these attacks.
The Tunisian authorities issued an alert for Fezzani in February 2016 and declared him to be one of the country’s most wanted terrorists.25 In March 2016, he reportedly helped stage the DaISN’s attack on the town of Ben Guerdane.26 Fezzani was mistakenly reported to have been captured by security forces in Libya in August 2016.27 A few months later, he was again falsely claimed to have been arrested in Italy.28 Fezzani left Libya somewhere in 2016.
Italian intelligence services tracked Fezzani down and eventually arrested him in Sudan on Nov. 14, 2016.29 The Italian authorities extradited him to Tunisia in December 2016.30 While in Tunisian custody, Fezzani denied being a member and stated that he had remained loyal to al-Qa ída.31
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