In a chilling connection between two major terror cases, the brother of a jihadist convicted of plotting an attack on Jewish targets in Manchester attended the same school as the gunman responsible for the 2015 Sousse beach massacre in Tunisia.
A School Link to Atrocity
Bilel Saadaoui, 36, the younger sibling of terror mastermind Walid Saadaoui, is understood to have gone to school with Seifeddine Rezgui. Rezgui was the Islamic State fanatic who murdered 38 people, including 30 British tourists, in the horrific attack in the coastal resort of Sousse nine years ago.
The link emerged during a police interview with Walid Saadaoui's first British wife, known only as Jane. She told officers that her former husband had informed her his brother, Bilel, had been in the same class as the Sousse beach attacker. Both are believed to have attended the Ibn Rachiq Secondary School in Kairouan, a town located roughly 50 miles from the Tunisian coast.
Although Bilel was three years older than Rezgui, it is possible they shared a classroom if different year groups were taught together. The exact age at which they mixed remains unclear.
Brothers in the UK on 'Shirley Valentine' Visas
The court heard how both Saadaoui brothers entered the United Kingdom through visas obtained after forming relationships with British women during holidays in Tunisia, in a pattern reminiscent of the film 'Shirley Valentine'.
Walid Saadaoui, 38, met his first wife, Jane, more than a decade before his plot, while working as a hotel entertainer in Sousse. The couple married and moved to the UK in 2012, settling in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex. Walid later bought The Albatross restaurant in Great Yarmouth before selling it and moving to a house in Wigan, Greater Manchester, which he purchased in cash.
Similarly, Bilel met his wife, Katherine, a widowed hairdresser, while she was on holiday in 2010. They married in November 2014 and he moved to Bolton, Greater Manchester. He was unemployed for a year before working for a charity and later as a casual worker at a Pound Bargains store in Hindley.
Manchester Plot and Conviction
Bilel Saadaoui was recently found guilty at Preston Crown Court of knowing about but failing to disclose a terror plot devised by his older brother, Walid, and accomplice Amar Hussein. The plan involved using semi-automatic rifles and handguns to attack Jewish targets in Manchester.
The prosecution stated Bilel was Walid's confidant and shared his support for Islamic State. The pair communicated regularly, though they lived five hours apart and met mainly for religious festivals.
Counter-terrorism police have stated they have not been able to confirm any operational links between the Manchester plot and figures in Tunisia or other overseas jihadists. They emphasised they are 'not looking for any other suspects' in relation to the Saadaoui and Hussein investigation.
While Walid remains in the UK under a spousal visa, Bilel has leave to remain until September next year. The revelation of the school connection adds a disturbing layer of coincidence to two separate but profoundly serious terror cases that have impacted British citizens both at home and abroad.
