In 1993 Abderrahmane left Algeria and settled in Randers, Denmark, where he joined a music group and worked as a DJ in a club.[3] He attended Aarhus University until 1998, but he did not complete his studies.[3]
He is reported to have been inspired to travel to Afghanistan in the late 1990s at the Grimhøj Mosque [da], founded by an Algerian refugee named Athme Meheri.[5] Danish journalist Morten Skjoldager [da] described Meheri's mosque as a "radical mosque" in his book Truslen indefra (The Threat from Within). Abderrahmane was captured, in December 2001, in Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border.[6] He was transferred to Guantanamo on 10 February 2002.[7][8] He was repatriated to Denmark on 24 February 2004.[9]
Abderrahmane's explanation for how he came to be captured was that he had traveled there to enroll in an Afghan military training camp to undergoing training so he could go fight with Muslim rebels in Chechnya.[6] Abderrahmane was held in Guantanamo Bay for over two years.[10][11] According to an article in U.S. News & World Report he was released in spite of reservations from US security officials because the Danes had threatened to withdraw their troops if he was not released. Abderrahmane was the subject of a 2004 book entitled Den naive terrorist.[11]
After his release, Abderrahmane announced plans to travel to fight in Chechnya.[6] He said he regarded the document he signed promising not to take part in terrorist activity as "toilet paper". Danish security officials talked him out of his trip. He has said that Denmark's role in the Occupation of Iraq meant that he thought Danish leaders were legitimate military targets.[6] On 10 October 2007, in the Copenhagen suburb of Greve, Abderrahmane was sentenced to 10 months in jail for the theft of two passports and three credit cards which he used to withdraw more than 110,000 Danish kroner (approximately US$20,000).[12][failed verification][13][unreliable source] The items were stolen from the mail sorting office where Abderrahmane was working under a new Danish name. Police only recovered a small proportion of the stolen money and it is unknown where or how the remainder of the money was spent. During the trial, Abderrahmane refused to testify. He also refused to speak to or co-operate with his assigned lawyer.[citation needed]
In 2013, it was reported that he had been killed after joining the Syrian Civil War against Bashar al Assad.[14] According to the Copenhagen Post Slimane was believed to be one of a number of Danish Muslims who had traveled to Syria to volunteer to help overthrow Assad.[15]Reason and Long War Journal wrote that Slimane's death underscored the international contribution to the Syrian opposition.[16][17]
On 25 August 2014, the High Court of Eastern Denmark refused to issue a legal finding of death regarding Slimane Hahj Abderrahmane. The appeals court did not find any facts sufficiently substantiated an assumption of death.[18]
^ abJakob Holm (9 June 2004). "BØGER: Interessant, men problematisk interviewbog med den frigivne dansker fra Guatánamo-basen" [BOOKS: Interesting, but problematic interview with the Dane freed from Guatánamo base]. Kristeligt Dagblad (in Danish). Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2010. It is described as the big journalistic scoop that the two Politiken journalists Hans Davidsen-Nielsen and Matias Seidelin have tricked the now freed Dane from Guantanamo detention center in a northern Zealand holiday for five days, there to hear his whole story about religious awakening and 747 days in U.S. custody.
^Hans Rustad (27 August 2007). "Eks-Guantanamo var postbud and og tyv" [Ex-Guantanamo was a postman and a thief] (in Danish). Document.no. Archived from the original on 22 August 2009. Retrieved 7 April 2010. Abderrahmane was starting a new life with a new average name, in a secret address, and a job as postman. Now he is arrested for stealing two passports and three credit cards that he has taken out 100,000 dollars on.
^"Danish jihadist reported dead". The Copenhagen Post. 19 February 2013. Archived from the original on 20 February 2013. Retrieved 20 February 2013. Politiken newspaper reported, however, that Abderrahmane and another Danish citizen were killed on Saturday.
^Matthew Feeney (20 February 2013). "Death of Danish Jihadist Highlights International Makeup of Assad's Opposition". Archived from the original on 21 February 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2013. Many jihadists have been fighting and dying in the Syrian conflict, and the death of Abderrahmane is at first glance nothing particularly worth noting. However, Abderrahmane's death highlights the international nature of the Syrian conflict and the different ideals motivating Assad's diverse opposition.
^Thomas Joscelyn (20 February 2013). "Ex-Guantanamo detainee reportedly killed in Syria". Long War Journal. Archived from the original on 21 February 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2013. The Facebook page for a group named Islamisk Budskab in Denmark announced Abderrahmane's martyrdom earlier this week. The group, which has al Qaeda in Iraq's flag on the header of its Facebook page, said that Danes should be "proud" of Abderrahmane because he finally achieved his goal.
