Osama Krayem

{{Infobox criminal

| name = Osama Krayem

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1992|8|16|df=y}}

| birth_place = Malmö, Sweden

| other_names = Naïm or Naim al Hamed

| citizenship = Swedish

| known_for = November 2015 Paris attacks

2016 Brussels bombings

| conviction_status = Incarcerated

| allegiance = 20px Brussels Islamic State

| conviction = *Terrorist murder (32 counts)

Attempted terrorist murder (695 counts)
Membership of a terrorist organization

| date = 22 March 2016

| locations = Brussels, Belgium

| fatalities = 32

| injuries = 340

| apprehended = 8 April 2016

| imprisoned = undisclosed location, Belgium

}}

Osama Krayem ({{langx|ar|أسامة كريم}}, born 16 August 1992), also known as Naïm or Naim al Hamed,{{cite news|title='Man in the hat': Brussels airport suspect in custody|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2016/04/09/europe/brussels-attack-arrests-police/|date=9 April 2016|work=CNN}} is a Swedish-Syrian convicted terrorist and mass murderer. He was involved in the 2015 Paris bombings and the 2016 Brussels bombings.{{cite news|title=Osama Krayem, a Swedish radical linked to Brussels attacks|url=http://www.france24.com/en/20160409-osama-krayem-swedish-radical-linked-brussels-attacks|work=France24|agency=AFP|date=9 April 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410002421/http://www.france24.com/en/20160409-osama-krayem-swedish-radical-linked-brussels-attacks|archive-date=10 April 2016}}[http://www.parismatch.com/Actu/International/Qui-est-Osama-Krayem-complice-presume-des-kamikazes-942455 ''Paris Match': Qui est Osama Krayem, complice présumé des kamikazes de Bruxelles?] {{in lang|fr}} In June 2022 he was sentenced to 30 years in prison for having assisted planning of the Paris attacks including obtained weapons.

In Brussels, he was one of five men arrested on 8 April 2016 by the Belgian police.{{cite news|title=Osama Krayem caught thanks to Facebook wall, DNA and CCTV|url=http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/News/1.2624165|work=Flanders news|date=9 April 2016}}[http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article22596319.ab Aftonbladet: Uppgifter: Osama, 23, från Malmö gripen för Brysseldådet] {{in lang|sv}} On July 25, 2023 Krayem was found guilty of terrorist murder in the 2016 attacks. Krayem had been seen with the Metro bomber who blew himself up at Maelbeek.

He was present at the burning alive of the Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh of which Barack Obama described as "vicious".{{cite web | url=https://www.france24.com/en/20150203-group-claims-have-burned-jordanian-pilot-alive | title=IS group claims to have burned Jordanian pilot alive | date=3 February 2015 }}{{cite news |author1=Michael Fitzpatrick |title=Paris attacks suspect returns to the box but keeps vow of silence |url=https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20220114-paris-attacks-suspect-osama-krayem-returns-to-the-box-but-keeps-vow-of-silence-trial-paris-islamic-state |access-date=3 April 2022 |work=Radio France Internationale |date=14 January 2022 |language=en |quote=He has been identified among those who witnessed the burning alive of a Jordanian air force pilot captured by Islamic State.}}

Personal background

Krayem was born in 1992 in Malmö, Sweden to Palestinian immigrants from Syria and grew up in Rosengård, Malmö Municipality. At eleven years old, he participated in the 2005 documentary "Utan gränser – en film om idrott och integration" (Without Borders - A Film About Sports and Integration), a film described by Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet as "a documentary on how to succeed with integration" of migrants into Swedish society.{{cite news|last1=Nilsson|first1=Christoffer|last2=Melin|first2=Eric|title=Swedish terror suspect was in movie about successful integration - Terrormisstänkt svensk var med i film om lyckad integration|url=http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article22616250.ab|accessdate=17 April 2016|work=Aftonbladet|date=15 April 2016|language=sv|quote=As an eleven-year-old Osama Krayem participated in a documentary on how to succeed with integration.}}{{cite news|last1=Alexander|first1=Harriet|title=Brussels terrorist suspect featured in Swedish documentary about integration|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/15/brussels-terrorist-suspect-featured-in-swedish-documentary-about/|accessdate=18 April 2016|work=Daily Telegraph|date=15 April 2016|quote=A Swedish man believed to be part of the Brussels and Paris terrorist network once starred in a documentary about successful immigration in Malmo.}}

Krayem is thought to have radicalized in his early twenties, frequently watching videos by Anwar al-Awlaki, an American and Yemeni imam and Islamic lecturer and alleged senior recruiter and motivator involved in planning terrorist operations for the Islamist militant group Al-Qaeda. Krayem also reportedly tried to recruit other Arab Swedish youth to join the fight in Syria.{{cite news|title=Osama Krayem lived a delinquent lifestyle in Rosengard, an immigrant neighborhood in Malmö, Sweden, before he was "brainwashed" and joined Islamic militants in Syria, community activists and his aunt say|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2016-04-10/swede-arrested-in-brussels-brainwashed-by-militants|work=U.S.News|agency=AP|date=10 April 2016}}[https://www.rtbf.be/info/societe/detail_qui-est-osama-krayem-l-accompagnateur-du-kamikaze-du-metro-maelbeek-arrete-a-anderlecht?id=9264086 RTBF: Qui est Osama Krayem, l'accompagnateur du kamikaze du metro Maelbeek, interpellé à Laeken?] {{in lang|fr}}

Until he was arrested in Brussels on 8 April 2016, he was one of Europe's most wanted fugitives, considered to be a hardened operative of ISIS.{{cite magazine|title=Europe's Terror Fears Won't End with the Arrests of the Likely Last Paris and Brussels Attackers|url=https://time.com/4287341/brussels-attacks-arrest-mohamed-abrini-osama-krayem/|date=8 April 2016|magazine=Time}}

The Wall Street Journal reported that on 20 April 2016 that Belgian authorities spelled the subject's first name as "Ossama," where previously it had been publicised as "Osama." His detention was extended by one month on the same day.{{cite news|title=Further Details Emerge on Links Between Paris, Brussels Terror Attacks|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/further-details-emerge-on-links-between-paris-brussels-terror-attacks-1461159279|work=Wall Street Journal|date=20 April 2016}}

Terrorist activities

Krayem left Sweden sometime in 2014 to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) in Syria to fight alongside the anti-Assad Islamic militant group. He was said to be one of the first Muslim Swedes to have left the country to join ISIS. In January 2015, he was identified by the Swedish press yet again in a Facebook post sent to his brother in Sweden showing him reportedly in Deir ez-Zor, Syria dressed in military fatigues, standing in front of an ISIS flag and holding an AK-47. On 14 March 2015, he uploaded a film clip to his Facebook page showing an execution of a 19 year old Palestinian from Jerusalem. Several people from Malmö, among them Krayem's brother and friends, liked the clip along with individuals in Syria.{{cite news|title=Malmöbo uppges gripen i terrortillslag|url=http://www.sydsvenskan.se/varlden/terrormisstankt-friges-i-belgien/|work=Sydsvenskan|date=8 April 2016|language=sv}}{{cite news|title=Jihadist från Malmö i IS propagandakrig|url=http://www.sydsvenskan.se/malmo/jihadist-fran-malmo-i-is-propagandakrig/|work=Sydsvenskan|date=18 March 2015|language=sv}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.sydsvenskan.se/2016-04-11/kontakten-med-brodern-i-malmo-avslojade-osama-krayem|title=Kontakten med brodern i Malmö avslöjade Osama Krayem|work=Sydsvenskan|access-date=2018-02-14|language=sv-SE}}

He later returned to Europe using a false passport travelling the migrant route from Syria to Turkey to Leros, Greece where he presented himself on 20 September 2015 as Naïm Al Hamed (identified as a Syrian national born on 1 January 1988 and originating from Hama, Syria according to the falsified papers).{{cite news|title=Brussels attack: Who is Osama Krayem the jihadi from Malmo arrested with 'Man in the Hat'?|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/brussels-attack-who-osama-krayem-jihadi-malmo-arrested-man-hat-1554105|work=ibtimes.co.uk|date=10 April 2016}} Under this guise as Naïm Al Hamed, he continued to Europe residing in Belgium.

=November 2015 Paris attacks=

In October 2015, Krayem allegedly met Salah Abdeslam in Ulm, Germany to discuss possible cooperation in terrorist attacks.

On 19 April 2016, Krayem was linked to the November 2015 Paris attacks, as it was determined that his DNA was present in the apartments used by the assailants.{{cite web|url=http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article22663616.ab |title=Uppgifter: Malmöbon Osama, 23, misstänkt för Paristerror|work=Aftonbladet|date=19 April 2016 |accessdate=20 April 2016}}{{cite news|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/europe/article/2016/04/19/le-suedois-osama-krayem-inculpe-a-son-tour-dans-le-dossier-des-attentats-de-paris_4905127_3214.html|title=Le Suédois Osama Krayem inculpé à son tour dans le dossier des attentats de Paris|work=Le Monde|date=19 April 2016 |accessdate=20 April 2016}} In June 2018 he was extradited to France into custody of the National Gendarmerie to be interrogated on his role in the November 13 Paris attack, where 130 were killed.{{Cite news|url=http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/attentats-de-paris-la-belgique-remet-a-la-france-un-suspect-clef-07-06-2018-7759416.php|title=Attentats de Paris : la Belgique remet à la France un suspect-clé|date=2018-06-07|work=leparisien.fr|access-date=2018-06-09|language=fr-FR}} In June 2022 he was sentenced to 30 years in prison for having assisted planning of the Paris attacks including obtained weapons. At trials it was also disclosed that Krayem and Tunisian Sofien Ayari also both were involved in planning a separate attack on Amsterdam airport as part of the same cell.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61989354|title=Paris trial: Salah Abdeslam guilty as historic trial ends|date=2022-06-30|work=bbc.com|access-date=2025-01-21|language=en-EN}}

=2016 Brussels bombings=

Krayem is believed to be the man seen on CCTV at the Brussels City 2 shopping centre, where he bought the rucksacks later used for the 22 March 2016 terror attack in Brussels Airport in Zaventem. His DNA was found in the Schaerbeek (Brussels) apartment used by the Zaventem airport bombers.{{cite web|url=http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/News/1.2624165 |title=Osama Krayem caught thanks to Facebook wall, DNA and CCTV |date=9 April 2016 |publisher=Deredactie.be|accessdate=20 April 2016}} He is also believed to have been the second man alongside bomber Khalid El Bakraoui at the Pétillon metro station. El Bakraoui is thought to have carried out the bombing of Maelbeek metro station minutes later on the morning of 22 March 2016. During interrogation, Krayem confessed that he was the second metro bomber{{cite news|title=Brussels ISIL cell 'initially' planned to 'strike France again'|url=http://www.politico.eu/article/brussels-isil-cell-initially-planned-to-strike-france-again-abrini-belgium-terrorist/

|work=POLITICO|date=10 April 2016}} also carrying a backpack full of explosives, and explained that he felt regret at the last moment and therefore never tried to detonate his suicide bomb.{{cite news|title=Osama Krayems väg från Rosengård till kalifatet|url=http://www.sydsvenskan.se/sverige/osama-krayems-vag-fran-rosengard-till-kalifatet/|work=Sydsvenskan|date=16 April 2016}}

On July 25, 2023, Krayem was found guilty of terrorist murder in the 2016 attacks in Belgium. Krayem was sentenced to life in prison.{{Cite news |date=2023-07-25 |title=Brussels bombers found guilty after long murder trial |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66299186 |access-date=2024-12-10 |work=BBC |language=en-GB}}

=The killing of Muath al-Kasasbeh=

During trial in 2018, Belgian investigators found that Krayem was at the scene where 26-year-old Jordanian air force pilot Moaz al Kasasbeh was burned to death by ISIL in January 2015.{{Cite news|url=https://www.svt.se/nyheter/utrikes/svensk-terrormisstankt-kopplas-till-brutalt-is-mord-pa-jordansk-pilot|title=Svensk terrormisstänkt kan ha koppling till brutalt IS-mord|last=Nyheter|first=SVT|date=2018-07-06|work=SVT Nyheter|access-date=2018-07-08|language=sv}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.lalibre.be/actu/belgique/le-point-sur-l-enquete-krayem-le-terroriste-du-22-mars-avait-deja-tue-5b3ef6215532692547ebcbd6|title=Le point sur l'enquête Krayem: le terroriste du 22 mars avait déjà tué!|last=Libre.be|first=La|access-date=2018-07-08|language=fr}}

In January 2025, Swedish authorities announced{{Cite web|url=https://via.tt.se/pressmeddelande/3755759/svensk-medborgare-begard-haktad-for-grov-krigsforbrytelse-och-terroristbrott?publisherId=3235540&lang=sv|title=Swedish citizen requested to be detained for serious war crime and terrorist crime|date=20 January 2025|website=The prosecutor's office of Sweden}} that Krayem, currently serving a lifetime sentence in Belgium for his involvement in the 2016 Brussels bombings, was to be tried at a criminal court in Sweden for his involvement in the killing of al-Kasasbeh. Krayem is expected to be transferred to Sweden for the trial. He is to be charged with acts of terrorism and various war crimes.