Nice killer ditched drink and drugs for an isolated life of prayer
Tunisian terrorist dropped out of school and became a virtual recluse after turning to religion, his mother says
‘I used to tell him, “we are poor and you’re wasting money?” He would reply “if God wills it, he will guide me to the right path, it’s my business”’
THE 21-year-old Tunisian who stabbed three people to death in a Nice cathedral turned from drink and drugs to a hermit-like life of prayer before committing his terror atrocity in the Riviera city, according to his family.
Brahim al-aouissaoui travelled to France from the village of Sidi Omar Bouhaila in Tunisia via the Italian island of Lampedusa, and had only been in the country for a few weeks.
Speaking from the Tunisian city of
Sfax, Aouissaoui’s mother said he had dropped out of school and had worked as a motorcycle mechanic.
At first, she said, “he drank alcohol and used drugs”. “I used to tell him, ‘we are poor and you’re wasting money?’ He would reply ‘if God wills it, he will guide me to the right path, it’s my business’,” she added.
But then he turned to religion and isolated himself for the past “two and a half years”, she said.
“He prayed ... [and] went from home to work and back, not mixing with others or leaving the house,” she said, crying as she clutched a passport photo of the young man in a white hoodie.
A picture from the Red Cross shows a smiling Aouissaoui in Bari, a port city in southern Italy, on Oct 9. France’s antiterrorism prosecutor said he had travelled there after reaching Lampedusa – a key landing point for migrants crossing in boats from North Africa – on Sept 20. After being quarantined, he was sent to the mainland and ordered to leave Italy within seven days.
Aouissaoui was not listed by Tunisian police as a suspected militant before he left the country, according to officials in Tunis. He had been living in Sfax, a port about 130km (80 miles) from Lampedusa, and a departure hub for those making the crossing to Europe.
He had already tried once before to reach Europe and did not tell his family he was making another attempt, according to his brother Yassine.
After reaching Italy and finding work harvesting olives, his brother added, he made his way to France.
The family said he called the evening of Oct 28, the day before the attack, telling them he had just arrived in the country. He said he would sleep in front of the church, and sent them a photograph showing him at the cathedral where the attack took place. “He didn’t tell me anything,” said Yassine, adding he could not understand how he would be able to carry out the attack in Nice just a few hours after arriving in France.
Police now believe he arrived “24 to 48 hours before the attack”.
Judicial sources said they had no leads from the 47-year old man they arrested yesterday but were checking for potential accomplices by examining the two mobile phones that Aouissaoui left behind.
According to a substitute prosecutor at the Tunisian anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office, a group called Al Mehdi of Southern Tunisia, previously unknown to Tunisian authorities, claimed responsibility for the terror attack.