French terror suspect's rap calls 9/11 'tip of the iceberg'

A video of suspected terrorist Jérémie Louis-Sidney rapping about Islam and the 9/11 attacks emerged Monday as France looked for clues to the man accused of blowing up a kosher grocery store. Louis-Sidney was shot and killed in a weekend police raid.

By FRANCE 24 (text)

In a 2009 rap clip broadcast by the France 2 television channel on Monday, suspected terrorist Jérémie Louis-Sidney says, "9/11 was just the tip of the iceberg”. Louis-Sidney, who police say instigated a Sept. 19 attack on a kosher grocery stall in the suburbs of Paris, was killed in a shootout on Saturday when police arrived at his home in Strasbourg to arrest him.

Grappling for clues as to what motivated the 33-year-old -- who had “recently converted to Islam”, according to his family -- the rap video comprised the first images of Louis-Sidney broadcast since he was killed. Posted online in May 2009, the video appears to have been produced after Louis-Sidney was released from prison after serving a two-year drug trafficking sentence.

The 40-second extract released by France 2 on Monday shows Louis-Sidney dressed in sports gear and a keffiyeh scarf. The song, entitled “Allah akbar”, condemns the trafficking of “organs and kids” and calls on “misled” brothers and sisters to “inform themselves”:

A screengrab of the "Allah akbar" clip retrieved by France TV Info.

“9/11 was just the tip of the iceberg (…)
Know that you’re manipulated, if you don’t get it, inform yourself, prepare yourself, arm yourself with knowledge (…)
Islam means submission
It doesn’t stop at not eating pork
Or circumcision
This rap is a calling
For the misled brothers and sisters
Allah akbar (God is great).”

Eleven other suspects were arrested by police on Saturday in a series of anti-terrorism raids across France. Louis-Sidney was shot dead after firing at police with a .357 Magnum pistol, injuring three officers.