Greek Immigration Minister: ‘Nothing’ To Suggest Man Whose Name Was On Paris Bomber Passport Was An Extremist

Greek immigration minister Ioannis Mouzalas said that Ahmad Al-Mohammad, the name found on a Syrian passport that is suspected to be a fake and was found near the body of one of the suicide bombers in the Paris terror attacks had “Nothing at all” to suggest he was an extremists and that the only difference between him and anyone else was “he was in a boat with other refugees” in an interview broadcast on Monday’s “CBS Evening News.”

Anchor Scott Pelley said that “It appears at least one of the attackers slipped into Europe in the wave of refugees who fled Syria. The clue is in a passport found near the body of suicide bomber outside the soccer stadium.”

CBS News Foreign Correspondent Holly Williams continued, “Greece says this man arrived on its shores claiming to be a refugee on October 3rd, and used this Syrian passport, suspected to be fake, which identifies him as Ahmad Al-Mohammad, 25 years old, and born in Idlib, northwestern Syria.”

Williams then showed portions of an interview Greek immigration minister Ioannis Mouzalas where Mouzalas said the man had “nothing.” In response to a question on whether the man had any record. He was then asked, “So there was no reason for you to suspect that he might be an extremist?” Mouzalas answered, “Nothing at all. Yes. Yes. It was like you and like me, only that he was in a boat with other refugees.” He later added, “If someone is clean, and he’s going to be an extremist, this is something that you cannot check it anywhere.”

Williams continued, “the man carrying the passport crossed to Greece from Turkey, the same route used by over 600,000 migrants this year, many of them Syrian refugees. He didn’t appear on any international wanted lists, so he was registered by the Greek authorities, fingerprinted, and then allowed to enter Europe.”

She concluded, “It’s long been feared ISIS could use the flood of refugees to smuggle its fighters into Europe, but, Scott, this case seems to show just how easy it is to do so.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett