Dutch police have arrested a man suspected of shooting Alejandro Vidal-Quadras, a former right-wing Spanish politician, NL Times reported Wednesday.
The Tunisian-French suspect, Mehrez Ayari, was allegedly apprehended on June 6 during the early planning stages of another politically motivated assassination attempt, the outlet reported citing El País. (RELATED: Newly Elected Mayor Assassinated In Southern Mexico)
Dutch police arrest gunman suspected of shooting Spanish populist Alejo Vidal-Quadras https://t.co/dYl2SGtQMH
— NL Times (@NL_Times) June 19, 2024
Vidal-Quadras was shot in the head while walking down a street in Madrid in November, The Associated Press reported. The 79-year-old ex-politician survived the attempt on his life with a fractured jawbone that required surgery.
“I was lucky because I turned my head. Normally they aim for the head or neck. Instead the bullet went into my jaw and out the other side,” Vidal-Quadras told The Independent.
The Spaniard is a co-founder of Spain’s right-populist Vox party and previously served as a member of the Barcelona City Council, Catalonia’s regional parliament, the Spanish Senate and European Parliament. He retired form politics in 2014.
“Thank God it seems that Alejandro Vidal-Quadras is out of danger,” Vox President Santiago Abascal said shortly after the shooting, according to AP.
The failed assassin fled the scene on a motorcycle, NL Times reported, citing El País.
Ayari allegedly has ties to organized crime in the Netherlands and is wanted for murder in France, the outlet reported. Vidal-Quadras told Reuters he has “absolute certainty” that Iran was behind the assassination attempt due to the Spaniard’s ties to Iranian opposition groups.
Dutch police managed to identify Ayari via CCTV footage from the area, Reuters noted.
