Armed police officers escort Salah Abdeslam to a police vehicle during a raid in the Molenbeek neighbourhood of Brussels, Belgium. (Photo: AP)
Armed police officers escort Salah Abdeslam to a police vehicle during a raid in the Molenbeek neighbourhood of Brussels, Belgium. (Photo: AP)
Key Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam was formally charged on Saturday with “terrorist murder” and being part of a terrorist group, the Belgian federal prosecutors office said.
“Salah Abdeslam... (has) been charged by the investigating judge with participation in terrorist murder and participation in the activities of a terrorist organization,” a prosecutors statement said.
Abdeslam was captured in a dramatic raid in Brussels and will be transferred to France.
Following his release from hospital where he was treated for a slight gunshot wound to the leg sustained during his arrest, Abdeslam was to be quizzed over his role in the November 13 massacre which killed 130 people and was claimed by ISIS.
His arrest on Friday along with four other suspects in the gritty Molenbeek neighbourhood, was hailed by European and US leaders, with French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve saying it dealt a “major blow” to ISIS jihadists operating in Europe.
Following the raid, French President Francois Hollande said he would push for the 26-year-old to be transferred to France as quickly as possible, and on Saturday morning he met with key Cabinet ministers and security officials to discuss the next steps.
“The operations of the past week have enabled us to incapacitate several individuals who are clearly extremely dangerous and totally determined,” Mr Cazeneuve said after the meeting. The aim was now “to review operations that are under way and the fight against terrorist groups in France and Europe,” a member of Hollande’s entourage said.
US President Barack Obama congratulated Belgium and France over the arrest of Abdeslam, saying the “significant arrest” was the result of hard work and close cooperation between law enforcement authorities.
“President Obama spoke by phone today with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and French President Francois Hollande to congratulate them on the arrest in Brussels today of Salah Abdeslam, a suspect in the November 13, 2015 ISIL terrorist attacks in Paris, France,” the White House said on Friday.
Meanwhile, Abdeslam’s lawyer said on Saturday that the Paris attacks suspect will oppose his transfer to France. “In an hour, we will be back (before the judge) on the European Arrest Warrant under which France is seeking his extradition and I can already tell you that we will oppose his extradition,” Sven Mary told reporters at federal police headquarters in Brussels.
“He will refuse his extradition at this stage,” Ms Mary said.
A day after Abdeslam’s arrest, Interpol on Satu-rday urged “extra vigilance at border controls”. “The capture of the 26-year-old Belgian-born Fre-nch national... may enco-urage any accomplices to attempt to flee Europe, or elsewhere,” the world police body warned its 190 member countries.
In a statement, Interpol drew particular attention to a blank Syrian passport that was found outside the Stade de France stadium, one of the targets of the November 13 attacks that claimed 130 lives. The body based in Lyon, France, said the passport had been recorded in Interpol’s Stolen and Lost Travel Documents database in April 2014.
