PARIS - The man who boarded a high-speed Amsterdam-to-Paris train with a Kalashnikov rifle before being tackled by passengers was on the radar of authorities in three countries, had ties to radical Islam and had traveled to Syria, authorities said.
The attacker was identified by a French official close to the investigation as Ayoub El-Khazzani, 26, who was known to authorities in France, Belgium and Spain. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. Officials did not disclose a possible motive for the Friday attack , but Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Spanish authorities had advised French intelligence about the suspect because he belongs to the "radical Islamist movement. El-Khazzani was being questioned Sunday by French counter-terrorism police who confirmed through fingerprints their suspicions that he was the same man who had been brought to their attention in February , according to the French official.
French authorities said he had lived in the southern Spanish city of Algeciras, frequenting a mosque which is under surveillance there. He was transferred Saturday morning to anti-terror police headquarters outside Paris and can be held for up to 96 hours. A lawyer for El-Khazzani told French television BFM that he had told her he only intended to rob the train and is "dumbfounded" that it is being treated as an act of terrorism.
Spain's Interior Ministry said El-Khazzani had lived with his parents in Algeciras and had been arrested three times for drug-dealing while living there. A ministry spokesman said it was not immediately clear how long he had lived there, or if other members of his family had also shared the same house. Spanish newspapers El Pais and El Mundo both reported that he had lived in the relatively poor neighborhood of El Saladillo, which has around 6, inhabitants and an unemployment rate close to 40 percent.
An official linked to Spain's anti-terrorism unit said the suspect lived in Spain until , then moved to France, traveled to Syria, and returned to France.
