Man who rented van known to police

BARCELONA • The van used to carry out the murderous rampage in the heart of Barcelona was rented by Driss Oukabir, who is said to be a convicted criminal, it was claimed Thursday night.

Oukabir is alleged to have hired the white Mercedes in the town of Santa Perpetua de la Mogoda, 25 kilometres north of the city, according to Spanish police. Scores of victims were mowed down as a vehicle plowed down Barcelona’s popular Las Ramblas shortly after 5 p.m. local time.

Three hours after the attack, police said they had arrested a man and are “treating him as a terrorist.” They did not identify him.

It wasn’t clear if Oukabir is the man who was arrested or if he was involved in the attack.

Oukabir was known to police, El Pais reported, and spent time in prison in Figueres, Catalonia, before he was released in 2012.

Anti-terrorism sources told the newspaper that Oubakir arrived in Barcelona from Morocco on Sunday.

Spanish reports later said

ARRESTED MAN TOLD POLICE HIS DOCUMENTS WERE STOLEN AND USED TO RENT VAN.

he had handed himself in to police and claimed his documentation had been stolen.

Police have been identifying his associates in a bid to work out who was behind the attack. The same sources said Oubakir was known to have spent time in Madrid this year and police were attempting to work out where he stayed and who he met there.

According to police audio recordings, the driver of the van was 5-foot-7, and dressed in a white top with blue stripes. Police found a Spanish passport inside the vehicle.

Spanish reports claimed Oukabir was born in Morocco in 1989 and was a legal resident in Spain. But in what is believed to be his Facebook profile, he says he is from Marseille, southern France, but living in Ripoll in Catalonia. On Tuesday, he changed his profile picture to one depicting him sunbathing on a beach.

Police were understood to be investigating if he either came to the city with a woman, or met one when he arrived. His profile, on which he calls himself Driss Oukabir Soprano, says he has been in a relationship since December 2013 and contains links to more than 700 friends. Within minutes of his name being released, the profile was flooded with vitriolic messages. The profile was later removed.

A newspaper in Catalonia, El Nacional, reported that Oukabir told police in Ripoll that his documents had been stolen and used to hire the car, sources told the paper.