The Profile Of Who Is An Islamic State Jihadist Is Now Changing

Washington Post: The Islamic State creates a new type of jihadist: Part terrorist, part gangster

BRUSSELS — The recent terrorist attacks in Paris have brought into sharper focus the rise of a new breed of jihadists, one that blurs the line between organized crime and Islamist extremism, using skills honed in lawbreaking in the service of violent radicalism.

The Islamic State is constructing an army of loyalists from Europe that includes an increasing number of street toughs and ex-cons as the nature of radicalization evolves in the era of its self-proclaimed caliphate. Rather than leave behind lives of crime, some adherents are using their illicit talents to finance recruiting rings and travel costs for foreign fighters even as their backgrounds give them potentially easier access to cash and weapons, posing a new kind of challenge to European authorities.

Before he became the notorious ringleader of last month’s terrorist attacks in Paris, for instance, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, 28, was linked to a den of radicalized thieves led by a man nicknamed “Santa Claus.”

WNU Editor: The criminal linkage is interesting .... but I suspect that most Jiahdists are not criminals. Just like the Mafia trying to be good Catholics .... these Jihadists are trying to be good Muslims. Both are not.