Belgian authorities warned the Catalan interior ministry in March 2016 about the imam reported to be behind the terror cell that killed 15 people in Spain last week. Abdelbaki Es Satty spent the early months of last year in Vilvoorde, Belgium, where he reportedly raised red flags. Hans Bonte, the mayor of the Flemish town, said another imam asked about Es Satty: “He said he acted strangely and told him he’d left Spain because he had no future there and had proclaimed himself imam, though he had no accreditation.” A spokesman for the Catalan interior ministry confirmed the Belgian message but called it “an informal contact,” adding, “It wasn’t an official communication, which would arrive by other channels.”
