Holder of Syrian passport found in Paris passed through Greece

[Comrade Grumpy]

8. The authenticity of that passport is in doubt.

http://www.businessinsider.com/paris-attacks-syrian-passport-2015-11

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If a Syrian passport was found on the attacker's body — and if it was authentic — experts still say it is likely the attackers had closer ties to France than to Syria.

"It would certainly suggest that they'd spent time in Syria," counterterrorism expert Michael Leiter, who served in the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, told MSNBC's Alex Witt on Saturday. "But I think we're probably going to find out that these individuals had very, very deep ties to France, which will likely be many of these guys' homeland."

One of the attackers in the Bataclan concert hall, where 118 people were killed, has reportedly been identified as a 30-year-old French national.

The authenticity of the passport, if found, is also unclear.

Syrian IDs and passports are coveted in Europe because it gives refugees from other countries, such as Afghanistan or Pakistan, a better chance of being granted asylum. Most Syrians are automatically given refugee status under international law because of the civil war that has raged in Syria since 2011.

As such, the market for fake Syrian passports is booming.

"There are people who are in Turkey now who buy fake Syrian passports because they know Syrians get the right to asylum in all the member states of the European Union," Fabrice Leggeri, the head of Europe's border agency, told radio station Europe 1 in September.

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