Father of two ‘radicalised at mosque’

ONE of the terrorists behind the Bataclan concert hall massacre was last night revealed to be a ‘blue-eyed’ father of two children aged two and five.

Police discovered the identity of Ismael Omar Mostefai after finding his severed finger after he blew himself up.

The 29-year-old, born to Algerian and Portuguese parents, was known to French police as a petty criminal with eight convictions. Officers had taken his fingerprints after he committed a driving offence, it was reported.

Mostefai was said to have been radicalised by a Brussels-based hate preacher who spoke regularly at his French mosque, but had never been jailed. He had been on a watch list since 2010, French prosecutor Francois Molins admitted. He had travelled to Turkey in 2013 and then on to Syria, it is understood.

Investigators are now looking into whether he also took a trip to Syria last year, according to police sources.

Mostefai’s full name was revealed by the mayor of Chartres, a town 60 miles southwest of Paris, where Mostefai had lived until three years ago. His home in a quiet suburb was a few miles from the Luce mosque where he was alleged to have worshipped.

Karim Benaya, the vice-president of the mosque, said the killer was not a regular worshipper there but admitted that, at peak times, there were up to 200 people praying and not all of their identities were known.

One former neighbour described Mostefai as sporty, around 6ft tall with ‘blue eyes and of mixed race’. It emerged that he had been a keen footballer and may have played for local team Chartres Horizon, although the club refused to confirm this.

Others said that in Chartres Mostefai, his wife and eldest child had shared their fourbedroom home with his three brothers and two sisters, one as young as 14. The family were said to have lived off the income of Mostefai’s father, a lorry driver.

The killer’s father and a 34-year-old brother, who said he had cut ties with Mostefai several years ago, were placed in custody on Saturday evening and their homes were searched.