According to
El Pais, reported that the suspect was identified by the Civil Guard in that country. The translated version of the article read, “The van used in the attack was rented by Driss Oukabir, in the town of Santa Perpetua de la Mogada, according to the identification made by the Civil Guard.” It’s not yet clear the degree to which police believe that Driss Oukabir was allegedly involved in the attack – whether he was the driver, for example.
However, a report in La VanGuardia says that Driss Oukabir, after seeking his photos and name in the news media, claims it’s a case of stolen identity. If true, that makes the actual identity of the Barcelona terrorist unclear. El Nacional, a local Spanish publication, also reported that Oukabir had come into a local police precinct to say his identity was taken and he’s not the terrorist.
As The Telegraph adds, one of the vans used to carry out the murderous rampage at the heart of the city was rented by Driss Oukabir, said to have been a convicted criminal.
Anti-terrorism sources told the newspaper that Oukabir arrived in Barcelona from Morocco on August 13. Police have been identifying his associates in a bid to work out who was behind the terror attack. The same sources said Oukabir was known to have spent time in Madrid this year and police were attempting to work out where he stayed and who he met there.
A local newspaper in Catalonia, El Nacional, reported that Oukabir told police in Ripoll that he had nothing to do with the Barcelona attack. He said that his documents had been stolen and used to hire the car, sources told the paper. Jordi Munell, mayor of Ripoll, confirmed that Oukabir had denied any involvement in the attack. According to police audio recordings, the driver of the van was 1m 70cm tall, dressed in a white shirt with blue stripes.
Police found a Spanish passport inside the van.
Spanish reports claimed Oukabir was born in Morocco in 1989 and legally resident in Spain. But in what is believed to be his Facebook profile, he says he was from Marseille, southern France, but living in Ripoll, in Catalonia, northern Spain. On Tuesday, he changed his profile picture to one depicting him sunbathing on an identified beach. Wearing white headphones, he posed for the picture on a blue towel laid out next to a pink one.
It is unclear whether the photographer was male or female but police were understood to be investigating he either arrived in the city with a woman, or met one. His profile, on which he calls himself Driss Oukabir Soprano, states that he has been in a relationship since December 2013 and contains links to more than 700 friends, several of whom were likely relatives with the same Oukabir surname.
Within minutes of his name being released, the profile was flooded with vitriolic messages, condemning him for any apparent involvement. The profile was later removed from the internet.
Over the last few weeks, Oukabir posted links to several hip hop music videos on YouTube. One of them, he described as being “for my brother”. In one video the all boy band, who sing in French, are seen celebrating and singing about vodka. In another, they revel in their love for expensive sports cars and women.
In July, he republished a post containing graphic images of a masked gunman holding a screaming child. The caption read: “Alas! what has happened to our Arabism. “Even the children haven't been rescued from the Israeli Occupation.”
Police are understood to have made an arrest following the attack but the suspect has not yet been identified.
