Showing posts with label Paris Explosion. Show all posts

Paris attacks: Salah Abdeslam 'refused to blow himself up'

Images of Salah AbdeslamSurviving Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam chose not to blow himself up to save lives, his brother says.
Mohamed Abdeslam was speaking to French BFMTV after meeting Salah in his Belgian prison cell where he is awaiting extradition to France.
"There would have been more victims had I done it," Salah told him. "Luckily, I couldn't go through with it."
The gun and bomb attacks on a concert hall, a stadium, restaurants and bars on 13 November 2015 killed 130 people.
Abdeslam, 26, was arrested last month in Brussels four days before bomb attacks in Brussels killed 32 people.
Police believe the same militant network was behind attacks in both cities.
The French national, born in Belgium, had apparently been hiding in the Belgian capital for more than four months.
After his arrest, Abdeslam was initially questioned over his alleged role in the Paris attacks.
Salah Abdeslam captured by police
Image captionAbdeslam was arrested in the Molenbeek area of Brussels
But after the suicide bombings in the Belgian capital, he chose to exercise his right to silence.

Salah Abdeslam - from petty crook to Islamist

  • Born 15 September 1989 in Brussels
  • In his teens, he and two brothers get into trouble with police for drug trafficking
  • Transport technician for STIB from 2009-11 but fired for poor timekeeping
  • Jailed briefly for burglary in 2010 with Abdelhamid Abbaoud, the suspected ringleader of the Paris attacks, who went to the same Molenbeek school
  • In 2013 managed "Les Beguines" bar in Molenbeek with brother Brahim; the bar was shut down in 2015
  • Briefly detained by Dutch police in February 2015, fined €70 (£49) for possession of cannabis
  • Both brothers placed on police list in 2015 for links to Islamist fighters in Syria
After meeting him in the Bruges prison, Mohamed Abdeslam said his brother had told him he wanted to co-operate with French authorities because he "is accountable to the French, but not to the Belgians" - a reference to the Belgian attacks.
However, Belgian authorities say Abdeslam has links to at least two of the Brussels bombers.
His fingerprints were found in a flat rented by Khalid el-Bakraoui, who blew himself up on the Brussels metro station on 22 March.
Investigators say Najim Laachraoui, named as one of the two Brussels airport bombers, was stopped by police in a car with Abdeslam on the Hungarian border with Austria in September.
Both the Paris and Brussels attacks have been claimed by so-called Islamic State.
Links between Paris and Brussels attacks graphic

Paris attacks: Suspect's 'accomplice' named as Najim Laachraoui

Belgian prosecutors say that DNA has identified an accomplice of captured Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam.
The man is named as Najim Laachraoui, 24, still on the run. A statement said he had been using false ID and that his DNA had been found in houses used by the suspected jihadist network.
Abdeslam was captured in Brussels on Friday and is still being interrogated.
French President Francois Hollande will later meet relatives of some of the 130 killed in the 13 November attacks.
Meanwhile, Abdeslam's lawyer has denied Belgian media reports the suspect will become an informer in return for more lenient treatment.
So-called Islamic State (IS) said it was behind the Paris attacks.
The Belgian prosecutor's statement said that last September Abdeslam had travelled twice to the Hungarian capital Budapest, using a rental car.
Najim Laachraoui aka Soufiane Kayal, Belgian police photoImage copyrightBelgian police
Image captionNajim Laachraoui was said to be using false ID when travelling with Salah Abdeslam
In the car were two other men, using fake Belgian identity cards with the names Samir Bouzid and Soufiane Kayal.
Soufiane Kayal has now been identified as Laachraoui by DNA found at houses in the town of Auvelais and the Brussels district of Schaerbeek.
"The investigation showed that Soufiane Kayal can be identified as Najim Laachraoui, born on 18 May 1991 and who travelled to Syria in February 2013."
Belgian police said Samir Bouzid was "most probably" Mohamed Belkaid. He was killed by a police sniper in a raid on a flat outside Brussels on 15 March.
The prosecutor appealed for public help in finding Laachraoui.
Also still sought is Mohamed Abrini, who was filmed at petrol stations with Abdeslam two days before the Paris attacks.
Abdeslam's lawyer, Sven Mary, meanwhile told Belgian radio that his client appeared "relieved" that the hunt was over.
Undated file picture of Mohamed Abrini, a man sought in connection with the Paris terror attacksImage copyrightAFP
Image captionPolice are still hunting another suspect seen with Abdeslam, Mohamed Abrini
Mr Mary said: "Salah wants to co-operate and he's done that since Saturday. Are we going to apply for the status [of informer]? He's never said he wants to be an informer. I've never said that he's asked for that."
But Mr Mary added: "I have said that he can be of invaluable worth for different parties. He can give invaluable information for police as well as judges and lawyers.
"The statements of the French prosecutor... could ensure that Abdeslam is scared off."
Mr Mary was referring to comments over the weekend by Paris prosecutor Francois Molins that Abdeslam had admitted he wanted to blow himself up during the attacks, but then changed his mind.
Mr Mary has filed a legal complaint against the prosecutor for violating secrecy.
Mr Mary also said he would continue to fight a transfer to France, but added: "Let's be quite clear. He's going to France - there is no single reason that he won't go to France. It'll be the investigating judge who decides when he goes."

'Stunned'

The BBC's Lucy Williamson in Paris says that for those who lost relatives in the attacks, relief at Salah Abdeslam's arrest is quickly turning to hunger for the information he might provide.
"We hope [his arrest] will help us in the search for truth" read the message from one support group set up after the November attacks.
Francois Hollande, 19 MarchImage copyrightAP
Image captionMr Hollande has called for Abdeslam's quick transfer to France
Photo of Salah Abdeslam issued by French policeImage copyrightAP
But our correspondent says that Mr Hollande's first formal meeting with relatives comes amid recrimination that, four months after the attacks, they are being ignored.
Earlier this month, Georges Salines, who lost a daughter in the Bataclan theatre during the attack, said he had written to Francois Hollande to ask for such a meeting, but was "stunned" to be told that there was no time in the president's schedule.
France has tightened security at its borders after the arrest of the man dubbed Europe's most-wanted fugitive.
Mr Hollande has said that the number of people involved in the terrorist network is much larger than originally thought and that he wants Abdeslam transferred toFrance as soon as possible to face prosecution.
Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders has suggested Abdeslam was preparing attacks in Brussels before he was arrested.
Map
The Belgian authorities have charged Abdeslam with terrorism offences.
The 26-year-old French national, born in Belgium, spent four months on the run.
Another man arrested at the same time as Salah Abdeslam, Monir Ahmed Alaaj, has also been charged with participation in terrorist murder and the activities of a terrorist group, Belgian prosecutors say.
graphic of Paris attackers
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