THE EX-WIFE of a 'terrorist' shot dead when he staged a knife attack on a Catalunya police station says he was 'a good man', 'very kind' and 'loving'.
Luciana Morales, who converted to Islam when she married Algerian expat Abdelouahab Taib, 29, sent an open letter to the media yesterday (Monday) calling for 'respect' for the deceased.
“He's not all those horrendous things I've been reading about,” Sra Morales insisted.
Taib burst into the Mossos d'Esquadra station three blocks away from his home in Cornellà de Llobregat (Barcelona province) a week ago, brandishing a knife and shouting Allahu Akbar ('God is great'), a standard greeting and prayer call in Islam which has been hijacked by ISIS terrorists and announced just before they let off suicide bomb vests, open fire or detonate explosives.
The female officer on duty said she genuinely feared for her life and was in no doubt Taib intended to kill her.
She was forced to shoot to kill, and needed counselling afterwards.
“He was a good man and he liked to help everyone else, but he was going through a very bad time,” Luciana says.
“[Abdelouahab] was very loving and for me, he was, and always will be, someone very special.
“He was the only person who has ever really got to know me or understood me; he loved his family and friends above everything else – but he was nothing like what people have been saying about him in the last week.”
Sra Morales signed off the letter with her Arab name, Amina, after urging the public to remember Taib 'as he really was – a loving and humble person'.
She says this is the only time she has ever written to the media.
Although the Mossos d'Esquadra are treating Taib's actions as terrorism, Luciana's explanations appear to reveal a deeper and more personal motive.
Taib knew he was gay, according to Luciana's reported statement to police after the attack, and had told her over a year ago.
It is believed this is why they divorced just a fortnight before his death.
He knew his homosexuality would lead to his being rejected by the Muslim community and cut off from his family and friends, and felt suicidal.
It is believed the knife 'attack' was entirely staged, as he knew the police were likely to shoot him, thus achieving his aim of committing suicide without having to do so by his own hand, as this is forbidden in Islam.
The policewoman may not have been in any real danger, but Taib wanted to make her think she was so she would open fire.
As Luciana and Taib were divorced, she cannot be a party to the court case, although she is seeking compensation from the police to cover the cost of repairing her front door, which they smashed down when searching her house, and also for the return of items confiscated from her home for the investigation, including computer equipment.
Taib's family has brought a private prosecution against the police for his death, although the Mossos insist their officer acted appropriately in the circumstances.
Police inquiries have found no link between Taib and any terror organisation, nor any evidence of his becoming 'radicalised', and he has no criminal history.
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