Paris police release picture in public appeal to identify third Stade de France attacker

The man blew himself up outside the Stade de France, and his records have now been traced to paperwork on a Greek island

Paris police issued a new image, the first of one of the Stade de France bomber (Police Nationale)

French police are appealing for help from members of the public to identify the third Paris attacker who blew himself up outside the Stade de France 10 days ago.

Police Nationale issued the first picture of one of three men who detonated explosive vests outside the international football friendly between France and Germany, which President Francois Hollande was attending at the time.

He attacked the stadium alongside 20-year-old Belgian national Bilal Hadfi, who is known to have spent time fighting with Isis in Syria, and another man who was carrying a Syrian passport under the name “Ahmed Almohamed”.

Few details beyond the photo of the third attacker were released by police, who tweeted: “The Police Judiciaire (Paris regional police) seeks to identify the 3rd perpetrator of one of the attacks of the 13/11 Stade de France attacks.”

But according to the BBC, the picture matches that on the paperwork of a man who entered Greece posing as a Syrian refugee on 3 October.

The broadcaster said the suspect was travelling under the name “M al-Mahmod”, although the fact this information wasn’t released by French police suggests the authenticity of that name and the man’s possible nationality remain in doubt.

He and the “Ahmed Almohamed” passport-holder appear likely to have travelled together to carry out the Stade de France attack, posing as Syrian refugees to get into Europe. Both are recorded as arriving on the Greek island of Leros from Turkey on the same boat among nearly 200 refugees.

What we know about the Paris attack suspects so far

Abdelhamid Abaaoud had been named by officials as the “presumed” mastermind of the attacks (Reuters)

Abdelhamid Abaaoud

Age: 27

The suspected ringleader of the attacks, a Belgian man described by RTL Radio in France as "one of the most active Isis executioners in Syria". He grew up in the Molenbeek district of Brussels, and was behind a series of thwarted attacks targeting a train, a church and others. He was finally tracked to the Saint-Denis suburb of Paris last week, despite being believed to be in Syria, and died in a shootout with police.

Salah Abdeslam (AFP)

Salah Abdeslam

Age: 26

Salah Abdeslam is the key suspect on the run, and is now one of the most wanted men in the world. He was stopped hours after the attack by police guarding the Belgian borders but then released because his name was not on any wanted list at the time. Salah is thought to have rented the black Volkswagen Polo used by the attackers on Bataclan concert hall. He was born and raised in Belgium, although French police have described him as a French national.

Brahim Abdeslam

Age: 31

Brahim was reported to have detonated his suicide belt outside a bar on the Boulevard Voltaire near the Bataclan on Friday. Prosecutors have identified him as the man who rented a Seat car used in the attacks. He was brother to Salah and Mohammed Abdeslam, who was arrested but later released by Brussels police.

Bilal Hadfi

Age: 20

Also from Belgium, Bilal Hadfi was named by the Washington Post as one of the attackers at the Stade de France. He was said to have spent time fighting with Isis in Syria before returning to Europe.

‘Ahmed al-Mohamed’

Age: 25?

The Syrian passport of ‘Ahmed al-Mohamed’ was found near the Stade de France after the bombing, and was registered by a refugee who had been processed in the Southern Serbian town of Preservo. French authorities have confirmed that fingerprints found at the scene of the bombing match those of the man who entered Europe on 3 October among refugees, but the passport itself is a fake.

‘M al-Mahmod’

Age: Unknown

First pictured by the French police on Sunday 22 November, the third Stade de France suicide bomber appears likely to have been identified via fingerprint records taken when he arrived in Greece on 3 October. Along with ‘Ahmed al-Mohamed’, he arrived among refugees on a suspected fake Syrian passport.

Omar Ismail Mostefai

Age: 29

Omar was the first attacker named by French authorities. He was of Algerian heritage and grew up in Courcouronnes, south of Paris. He detonated his suicide belt inside the Bataclan concert hall, and was identified from prints taken from a severed finger found there.

Samy Amimour grew up in Drancy (AFP)

Samy Amimour

Age: 28

One of the attackers at the Bataclan concert hall, Samy Amimour, had been placed on a terrorist watch list for attempting travel to Yemen in 2012. He had been placed under judicial supervision but went missing and was suspected of travelling to Syria to join Isis. According to friends, Samy looked completely different when he reappeared in Paris in recent months.

Unnamed attacker

Age: Unknown

Police are yet to provide a picture or name for the third attacker at the Bataclan, the scene of the deadliest of the Paris shootings.