• Omar Ismail Mostefai, 29, was one of the three men who blew themselves up at the Eagles of Death Metal concert
• The father-of-one was born in the Paris suburb of Courcouronnes and has eight past convictions for petty crimes
• Mostefai, who had a young daughter, said to have been radicalised by a Belgian hate preacher at mosque in France
• He was picked out as a high-priority target for radicalisation in 2010 but had ‘never been implicated’ in terrorist links
• Investigators are probing claim that he spent several months in Syria in late 2013 and early 2014, possibly with ISIS 
• Twitter account, believed to be Mostefai’s, suggests he was Barcelona fan whose favourite player was Lionel Messi 
• Mostefai’s father and brother were arrested last night and have been questioned alongside other family members

 

The first Jihadi suicide bomber named in connection with the Paris terrorist attacks that left at least 129 people dead is homegrown terrorist Omar Ismaël Mostefai, who was identified by his finger.

The digit was found among the carnage of the Bataclan concert hall, where the 29-year-old father-of-one was one of three men who blew themselves up, killing 89 men, women and children.

French citizen Mostefai, who has a large number of convictions for petty crime but not extremist activity, is said to have a young daughter – believed to be around five years old – who former neighbours accused him of ‘abandoning’. One said when they knew him he appeared a ‘charming, a great guy’.

Investigators are now looking into claims that Mostefai spent several months in Syria in late 2013 and early 2014, possibly with IS terrorists. It is thought he was radicalised by a Belgian hate preacher of Moroccan descent said to have regularly preached at his mosque in Luce, south of Paris.

French officials identified Mostefai as one of the Paris terror attackers as seven people were detained in Belgium linked to the atrocities. A Twitter account, thought to belong to Mostefai, suggests he was a Barcelona fan whose favourite footballer was Lionel Messi.

Survivors have claimed that a woman was among the group shooting randomly into the crowd at the Eagles of Death Metal gig before three blew themselves up and a fourth person was shot dead by police before they could detonate their bomb.

The overall death toll of the Paris attacks stood at 129 on Sunday evening. It followed a night of bloodshed which saw eight terrorists, including one as young as 15, attack the Stade de France, restaurants and the packed Bataclan concert hall armed with AK-47s, grenades and wearing suicide vests.

More than 350 were injured – 99 of which are in a critical condition – and 30 of the dead have not yet been identified.

Serbian media has claimed that Ahmed Almuhamed, 25, whose Syrian passport was found on the body of a suicide bomber, was also part of the eight-strong ISIS kamikaze terror squad.

Almuhamed allegedly sneaked into France by posing as a refugee after being rescued from a sinking migrant boat.

Meanwhile, French police are hunting 26-year-old Salah Abdeslam, from Brussels, who is accused of renting a Volkswagen Polo used by the suicide bombers. His brother Ibrahim is believed to have blown himself up during the siege and a third sibling, Mohamed, has been arrested in the Belgian capital.

An official told the Washington Post another of the shooters was Bilal Hadfi, who was from Belgium and had spent time fighting with ISIS in Syria. He died along with Mostefai after detonating his suicide vest during a murderous rampage.

Born on 21 November 1985, in the Paris suburb of Courcouronnes, a working class district in the south-west of the French capital, Mostefai’s criminal record shows eight convictions for petty crimes between 2004 and 2010.

Although he had never spent any time in jail, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Mostefai had been picked out as a high-priority target for radicalisation in 2010.

But before Friday, Mostefai had ‘never been implicated in an investigation or a terrorist association’.

MailOnline has learned he was born to an Algerian father and Portuguese mother in a down at heel Paris suburb.

Mostefai’s father and 34-year-old brother were arrested on Saturday night and their homes were searched. They and other family members are now being questioned by police.

Eric Pudal, who lives next door to Mostefai’s brother in the town of Bondoufle, on the outskirts of Paris, said around 20 heavily armed police swooped in on the home Saturday evening. Mr Pudal said he was shocked by the arrest, describing the family as ‘very nice, very sociable.’

Before he was taken into custody Mostefai’s brother told French news agency AFP: ‘It’s a crazy thing, it’s madness. Yesterday I was in Paris and I saw how this s*** went down.’

The brother, one of four boys in the family along with two sisters, turned himself in to police after learning Mostefai was involved in the attacks.

While he had cut ties with Mostefai several years ago, and knew he had been involved in petty crimes, his brother said he had never imagined his brother could be radicalised.

The last he knew, Mostefai had gone to Algeria with his family and his ‘little girl’, the brother said, adding: ‘It’s been a time since I have had any news.I called my mother, she didn’t seem to know anything.’

A source close to the inquiry said Mostefai regularly attended the mosque in Luce, close to Chartres, to the southwest of Paris.

MailOnline has also learned that the mixed-race family struggled financially with only the father Mustafa Mostefai’s meagre salary as a lorry driver to support them.

When Mostefai was in his teens the family moved to a small house in a sprawling social housing development on the outskirts of Chartres, a historic and picturesque town some 50 miles west of Paris.

Described as charming and well mannered, Mostefai was a regular attendant at the Anoussara mosque. However the family left the town three years ago, with his father and at least one brother returning to Paris.

Mostefai told friends he was going to live in Algeria with his newly-married wife and their baby daughter. He had appeared happily married and former friends and acquaintances today told of their shock that he could abandon his family by becoming a suicide bomber.

One friend, Hamza, told MailOnline: ‘He said he loved his wife and daughter but how could he abandon them and blow himself up.

‘I have not seen him for years but when he lived here he was really charming, a great guy.’

Neighbors described Mostefai as ‘good looking’.

One said: ‘He had blue eyes and light brown hair because of his mother, he was really good looking.

‘They were a nice family but I haven’t seen them for years.’

Other people who knew Mostefai spoke of their disbelief that someone they recalled as shy and considerate could have been involved in the deadly Paris attacks.

Ben Bammou, president of a local Muslim group, said Mostefai regularly attended mosque in the area and used to work as a baker. But he described the 29-year-old as ‘timid’ and said that the Muslim community of Chartres didn’t understand what happened.

He said: ‘We’re grieving, like everyone else.’

A woman who answered the door at the suicide bomber’s former address, a two-story building in the city of Chartres, said she didn’t know him.

Meanwhile, neighbour Arnauld Froissart, a 34-year-old bank employee, said Mostefai and his family were ‘very nice’ and that his mother offered cakes to neighbours during Ramadan.

He said: ‘Everyone was shocked when we learned this last night and this morning. I’ve lived in this neighborhood since 1986 and there’s no problem here.’

A Twitter account, believed to be Mostefai’s, suggests he was a Barcelona fan whose favourite footballer was four-time FIFA world player of the year Lionel Messi.

In one tweet, dated February 23 2012, he wrote: ‘Messi received the award for best player in the world Golden Ball.’

Another reads: ‘The one who surrenders himself to God and beseeches him humility, surrenders his power, and energy and knows he can’t do anything without his god, knocks on the door of victory.’

He also tweeted on September 17 2012: ‘Muslim and proud, but… Islam does not encourage barbarianism, nor intolerance, but today we are showing our weakness to the enemies of religion.’

Almost a year later, on July 21 2013, one tweet read: ‘Don’t let the envy in your heart prevent you from having peace of mind. Forgive the one who did a bad deed to you and don’t harm them, embrace the good in your heart and pray for them, for we are all going to die.’

Two of the suicide bombers who caused carnage in the Paris massacre are thought to have sneaked into France by posing as refugees from Syria, it was revealed Saturday.

Police said the two men, who arrived in Greece last month, were among seven attackers, one as young as 15.

Serbian media last night reported that one of the terrorists was named as Ahmed Almuhamed. The newspaper Blic said that 25-year-old Almuhamed arrived with another of the bombers in Europe on the Greek island of Leros on October 3 on his way to Paris.

Greek website Protothema have published ferry tickets showing the name of a second man, Mohammed Almuhamed, who could be a relation.

Belgian authorities also arrested several suspects on Saturday after a car seen near one of the murder scenes was intercepted crossing the border.

Federal prosecutors in Brussels confirmed that a car with Belgian number plates had been seen close to the Bataclan theatre on Friday night, scene of the worst bloodshed.

Spokesman Jean-Pascal Thoreau confirmed that the car was a rental vehicle. He said that three people were arrested in the car.

Following the arrests, police launched several raids in the St Jans Molenbeek neighbourhood of Brussels, where several other arrests were made.

Molenbeek is home to a large community of immigrants from Morocco and Turkey.

A Belgian anti-terrorism judge took up the case because two of the people killed in Paris were Belgians, the office said in a statement.

A spokesman said: ‘The investigation is opened into a charge of terrorism and participation in the activities of a terrorist group.

‘Several arrests were carried out at the end of the afternoon. The operations are still underway in the Molenbeek neighbourhood.’

It has emerged that one of the terrorists arrived on the Greek Island of Leros on October 3, in a small boat among a group of 69 refugees who arrived from Turkey.

Investigators believe that the man travelled through Greece, into Macedonia before making his way northwards.

According to Greece’s deputy minister in charge of police Nikos Toskas: ‘The holder of the passport passed through the island of Leros on October 3, 2015, where he was identified according to EU rules.’

A Greek police source said the passport’s owner was a young man who had arrived in Leros on a small vessel from Turkey with a group of 69 refugees and had his fingerprints taken by Greek officials.

Two further suspects wanted by French authorities are believed to have registered as refugees in Greece earlier this year

French authorities had asked their Greek counterparts to check a passport and fingerprints of one man and the fingerprints of another who were thought to have registered in Greece, which is the main entry point into Europe for Syrian refugees.

At least one Syrian passport was found near the body of one of the seven assailants who died in Friday night’s violence.

Interpol has confirmed it has set up a ‘crisis response task force’ at its headquarters in southeastern France following deadly attacks in Paris.

Interpol Secretary-General Juergen Stock condemned the ‘cold-blooded, cowardly attacks’ that left at least 129 people dead Friday night.