| Basil Hassan | |
| Nationality: | Danish |
| Organisation: | Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant |
Basil Hassan (born 1987) is a Danish external operations plotter for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). In 2013, Hassan was accused of attempting to shoot Lars Hedegaard, a 70-year old Danish author and journalist. After being arrested in Turkey in 2014, he was released as part of an alleged exchange for 49 hostages held by the ISIL.[1] After his release, Hassan was believed to have travelled to Syria to join ISIL.[2] In November 2016, the US State Department issued a note, designating three persons as terror operatives.[2] He was in 2020 reported to be the mastermind of a failed attempt to blow up a long distance airliner, in what was later cited as the most ingenious ISIS terror project.[3]
Hassan grew up in Greve, Denmark, where he lived until he moved with his family to Nørrebro in Copenhagen around 2000.[4] He began studying at the Frederiksberg Gymnasium in 2003, during which time he started socialising with known extremists.[4] In 2007, one of his friends were convicted for terrorism in the Glostrup Terrorists Case.[4]