Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the alleged mastermind of the bloody terrorist attacks in Paris, had passed through Athens, as DNA evidence shows.
Investigations also showed that Salah Abdeslam, a wanted Paris attack assailant, had also passed through Greece in August. Abdeslam took a ferry from Patras to Bari, along with a fellow Belgian national of Moroccan origin.
The cooperation between French and Greek authorities continues as the French sent Abaaoud’s DNA sample to Greece. The sample matches an entry registered in the database of Greek Police. Abaaoud was in Athens in January and his cell phone number was traced by Greek authorities. The 27-year-old terrorist was killed in the Saint-Denis French police operation on November 18.
Regarding Abdeslam, the terrorist allegedly traveled to Syria in August with another Belgian national. Italian authorities say that the two men took a ferry from Bari to Patras on August 1. On August 5, the two suspects returned by ferry from Patras to Bari. From there they traveled by car, as they received a traffic ticket in northern Italy on August 6. It is believed that on August 1-5 they traveled to Syria.
At the time, Abdeslam was not considered a threat. His fellow traveler was arrested in Turkey in the aftermath of the Paris attacks.
Regarding their passing through Italy, the country’s Interior Minister Angelino Alfano told La Republica newspaper: “They were two European citizens with EU passports and free to travel everywhere in Europe. Before the Paris attacks they were not wanted.”
Abdeslam is on the run since the hits of November 13. His brother, Brahim, blew himself up in Paris on the night of the attacks.
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