ABDESLAM GETS 20 YEARS FOR POLICE SHOOTING

BRUSSELS A Belgian court on Monday found 2015 Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam and an accomplice guilty of attempted murder over shots fired at police as they sought to avoid arrest in Brussels. The court handed both Abdeslam, Europe’s most wanted fugitive at the time, and Sofiane Ayari the maximum 20-year sentence.

It said the “terror character” was clearly established in the March 2016 shooting, four months after the Paris attacks that killed 130. Abdeslam was close to being arrested in a hideout when he and Ayari fled while another man sprayed gunfire at police and was killed. Three officers were wounded.

His lawyer said it remains to be seen whether he will seek to appeal his sentence.