Muslim Woman Stopped Second Paris Attack By Tipping Off Police
Hasna Aitboulahcen, 26, the cousin of Abdelhamid Abaaoud
The woman who tipped police off about the whereabouts of the man behind the Paris attacks has said she wants the world to know she is a Muslim.
Now under police protection, she has described the moment she met Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the mastermind of the November atrocities, through his cousin Hasna Aitboulahcen.
The informant, who has not been identified, told the Washington Post, that she met the terrorist in a secret hiding place in a wooded area near the suburb of Aubervillier.
“It’s important that the world knows that I am Muslim myself,” she said.
“It’s important to me that people know what Abaaoud and the others did is not what Islam is teaching.”
The woman lived with Hasna, who protected Abaaoud, 28, following the attacks, and eventually died with him after police raided a Saint-Denis apartment on November 18.
But the other woman secretly contacted police after she heard him boast of plans to carry out more attacks, leading to his death.
The woman, who has not been named, lived with Hasna and described her struggles with drink and drugs.
Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the mastermind behind the Paris attacks (REX/Shutterstock)
She said that her behaviour changed after she became in regular contact with someone in Syria, believed to be Abaaoud.
Hasna, 26, had arranged a meeting between the three, two days after the bombings and shootings in November that left 130 people dead.
However, the woman did not know who they were meeting until she saw him and recognised him from news reports.
The meeting ultimately proved his downfall, and prevented him carrying the further attacks, which police confirmed he had been planning.
(Credit: IBL/REX/Shutterstock)
