Seham Al Salkhadi, a Syrian woman allegedly involved with ISIS, spent four months in Ecuador prior to traveling to Paris, France, via Bogota, Colombia, using a stolen Israeli passport last July.
Times of India:
Colombia probing Syrian Islamist who traveled to Paris
BOGOTA: Colombia is investigating a Syrian woman with ties to radical Islam, who traveled to Paris ahead of the attacks on a stolen Israeli passport, sources at the state prosecutor’s office said Thursday.
Seham Al Salkhadi left ahead of Friday’s attacks on a direct flight from Bogota to the French capital’s Charles de Gaulle airport, traveling under the name of Ashira Krieger, the sources said.
Al Salkhadi is suspected of paying off customs officials at the El Dorado international airport in Bogota to be able to travel using a stolen passport, which had been tampered with to modify some details.
She was briefly detained upon her arrival in Paris but was released after a few hours.
Ecuador en vivo (in Spanish. My translation, please link to this post if you use it):
Colombian authorities are working with their French counterparts to determine Al Sakhadi’s [sp] possible involvement in the November 13 attacks, as sources in the Prosecutor’s Office explained to EFE.
The above screen capture shows Al Salkhadi going through customs at the Bogota, Colombia, airport, where she allegedly bribed officials to allow her to board the plane to Paris under the stolen Israeli passport.
Contrary to the Times of India report, Noticias Caracol’s video (in Spanish) shows that the Israeli passport belonged to a man named Baruch Krieger.
Noticias RCN has video (in Spanish) and reports that the bribe amounted to 4 million pesos, or approx. US$1,300 at current exchange rate. Additionally (in Spanish. My translation, please link to this post if you use it):
First, on May 14, 2014, she departed from Daraa, Syria. She later appeared in Tripoli, Lebanon, where she stayed for eight months. She was later spotted in Turkey, after which she traveled to Ecuador, where she stayed for four months.
After this, she appeared in Bogota and, using the fake passport, departed on July 6 for Stockholm, when authorities lost track.
Noticias Caracol’s video showed a letter from Air France confirming that Al Salkhadi traveled to Paris but did not complete the last stage of the trip to Stockholm.
RCN Radio states that Colombian authorities have reported 28 Syrians attempting to travel “through irregular means” this year.
The Colombian authorities have been carrying a greater investigation on corruption of customs and immigration officials. The suspects allegedly charged US$600-$4,000 for allowing criminals through.
The Al Salkhadi case raises a lot of questions regarding the financing and logistics of her extensive travels, and the provenance of the fake passports Syrian women have been caught using in Texas, Costa Rica, and now, Colombia.
My post at DTGB: Syrians with fake passports
UPDATE:
Trending at Bad Blue.
11/21/15 update:
No sign traveler to Colombia involved with Paris bombers: prosecutor
There was no sign that a woman who passed through Colombia in July was connected with last week’s Paris attacks, an official with the national prosecutor’s office said on Friday in response to a media report suggesting a possible link.
. . .
Ecuador’s interior minister said the woman entered legally from Brazil, but that it had no record of her leaving Ecuador.
