French 'Terrorist' - "he's not my boyfriend"

[AbeSaidYes]

I wondered how other people were feeling about Hasna Aitboulahcen, the woman who was wearing a suicide vest in the recent Paris Siege?

I have just seen that she had shouted 'he's not my boyfriend' in response to the security forces and also I have read that she called 'help me' before the bomb went off.

It seems to me that there is every chance she was an unwilling victim of this atrocity - does anyone else feel the same? it just doesn't sit right with me.

Yes - I know that because she was shouting 'he's not my boyfriend'

And thinking about that I guess it was just a basic response to a stupid question from a french agent who assumed she must be in a relationship with him or who was trying to engage her in conversation as part of the plan to get closer to the building.

It was silly of me to interpret that 'he's not my boyfriend' as anything other than 'he's not my boyfriend' as it doesn't automatically then mean 'please help me I am here against my will' either.

on the other hand she did also apparently call out for help, again maybe just to get people closer ... I really don't know.

Sorry again for any offence I have caused

sorry that wasn't in answer to you MsMims

I do have a question about suicide vests though.

Are they only ever detonated by the person wearing them?

They can't be detonated remotely or on a timer?

I've just googled this woman's name on the back of this thread and guess what?

The Paris prosecutor has said contrary to initial reports, she did not blow herself up. She seems to have been killed by a man stood next to her who himself detonated a suicide vest.

Do you have a link?

I wouldn't want to comment further without knowing those facts are correct given the responses I have had so far!

.

Only the daily mail came up on my google search reporting it as 'breaking news' at the moment. Won't link to them for obvious reasons. I expect it will be reported by more reputable places soon though.

Ah right - they are saying it was the third person whos body has been recently discovered.

That was something I considered in an earlier post and which I knew about at the time I started the thread but of course it would be wrong for me to speculate until it's properly confirmed.

"Family and friends have reported her as enjoying a very western lifestyle"

This is sleeper infiltrator behaviour 101.

So it could well be she's another victim?

Sorry not to read your post earlier op. I have been saying this all day at work. Maybe she was a willing terrorist maybe not but these vests can be detonated remotely or she could have been forced to wear it. It was the reports of 'help me' that made me think there were 2 possibilities here, plus the descriptions of her from friends/neighbours. I dont think it is unreasonable to have a small question mark over it, although it is more likely to have been a ploy. It is a thread for feminism imo because it fits with the media rush to id and slather over images of women terrorists a la 'white widow' style. No media outlet even spent a cursory minute on any other possible explanation "oooooh first female suicide bomber in europe"

I expect the French authorities will be very thorough in their investigations, and when that has been done we might know more about the roles of all the perpetrators.

If any (of either sex) were coerced, that may well be uncovered. But that's just doesn't seem likely. This was a carefully executed operation, which must have been months in the planning and conducted under cover in what to them is hostile territory, and may have involved living and travelling under the radar for months. I cannot see any reason why anyone would choose someone acting under duress (who could betray them at any point) ahead of a committed extremist.

No, she was with her cousin. She was not chained up in the flat. She became radicalised. It sounds like her suicide vest was set off my the third person who was killed in there but if you take the risk of hanging out in those kinds of places you know what will happen. She didn't report her cousin to the police. She stayed in the flat. She knew what had gone on.

I've been saying from the time it first appeared in the news that calling her a suicide bomber was a bit presumptuous give she was shouting help me from a third floor window of a flat, where she couldn't have feasibly stood a chance of taking multiple lives. It just didn't add up to me. It seems I could be correct, if latest reports are accurate.

The French authorities are not even speculating on her role at the moment so I'm amazed people feel able to surmise this woman was 'another victim.'

I'm saying she could have been another victim.

Yes she may have been there as a willing participant, she may have had a gun to her head.

We may never know.

DeoGratias radicalised or not, she neither committed suicide nor bombed anyone or anything if she didn't detonate it herself. If she didn't she was not a suicide bomber.

Nobody would deny that scores of young Muslims are being radicalised. Until they act on that radicalisation they have a chance to change.

I think I will just wait until the police investigations are completed.
But given that two suicide bombers in Iraq a few years ago turned out to be two women with Down's syndrome that were manipulated into putting on the devices which were remotely detonated, I think it's worth waiting to find out what really went on.
I'm sure the investigators will figure it out in due course. No point in speculating too much really.

The French authorities are not even speculating on her role at the moment so I'm amazed people feel able to surmise this woman was 'another victim.'

Or able to surmise she was a willing terrorist given the french authorities are not even speculating on her role at the moment.

The Guardian are also reporting that she did not blow herself up.

The Daily Mail are reporting (still using "cowgirl'' - which is a pornographic term btw), that it's now believed she was blown up by a man, wearing a vest.

Pirate given your posts on page one of the thread, I'm amazed you feel in the position to judge other people's speculation.

Caprin, that is awful

I think the description by her friends is a red herring. How many times do you hear "he seemed like such a nice guy" about a murderer? I think it was one of the Charlie hebdo attackers that was described as a beautiful man or words to that affect

She shouted for help and it turns out she didn't blow herself up. Perhaps people could stop making assumptions based on half truths, outright lies and incredibly confused news reports.

Real life isn't like Hollywood. The media doesn't (and shouldn't) know everything going on during a police operation that is actually in progress while being reported on. It takes time to work out what has occurred in fast paced and lethal situations.

Maybe she was in on it. Maybe not. Maybe she was a jihadi. Or maybe she was an abuse victim who ended up surrounded by armed police and terrified to stay but also terrified to leave.

Perhaps, just perhaps, the public could stop with the armchair jury and potential slander, and wait for the security services to confirm actual facts. Yes, it will disappoint the 'news'papers (after all, they're always in heaven when they get to create a 'witch' for the mob to burn - men are just not so much fun it seems), but in a country where we claim to value truth, rule of law, and due process, we should be better than that.

It truly was wasn't it Eldon.
I'll never forget hearing that on the news. Unbelievable depravity.
It upsets me in a way I can't properly articulate. Those poor women.