Europe’s most wanted nabbed in Brussels for Paris attacks
BRUSSELS—Top Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, Europe’s most wanted man, was wounded and captured in a dramatic raid by armed police in the Belgian capital on Friday.
Abdeslam, 26, and four other suspects were arrested in the gritty Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek, where the FrancoMoroccan allegedly helped plan the Nov. 13 attacks in which 130 people died and 350 were injured.
Abdeslam was lightly wounded in the leg, prosecutors said. France said it would swiftly seek his extradition.
“The battle against terrorism does not end tonight, even though this is a victory,” French President Francois Hollande told a news conference in Brussels with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel.
“I think of the victims of Nov. 13, because Salah Abdeslam was directly linked to the preparation, the organization and unfortunately the per- petration of these attacks.”
Hollande, whose embattled presidency will be defined by his response to the worst terror attacks on French soil, said Paris would request Abdeslam’s extradition from Belgium “as rapidly as possible.”
“Our fight is not over, and tomorrow morning, in the light of the information that has been given to me, I will chair a meeting of the defense council,” bringing together ministers and senior officials in charge of security, Hollande said.
France has been under a state of emergency since the attacks. The measure was extended by parliament in February for a further three months, to May 26.
Michel, who rushed out of an EU summit for a crisis meeting with Hollande, said Abdeslam’s capture was “extremely important in the battle for democracy against this abominable form of extremism.”
The two leaders received the congratulations of US President Barack Obama who reaffirmed a “shared commitment” to “degrading and destroying” Islamic State.
Also arrested was a man known under the fake name of Amine Choukri who also used a false Syrian name, Monir Ahmed Alaaj.
Abdeslam and the so-called Choukri were fingerprinted by police in Germany on Oct. 5, one month before the attacks.
Choukri could also be a so- called Soufiane Kayal who was pulled over by police on the Austrian border with Hungary in September, again with Abdeslam.
The only man known for sure to be still be on the run is Mohamed Abrini who was filmed with Abdeslam two days before the attacks at a filling station on a motorway close to Paris.
Former small-time criminal Abdeslam is believed to be the last surviving member of the 10-man jihadist team that carried out attacks on the Bataclan rock venue, restaurants, bars and the Stade de France stadium.
He apparently fled by car to his hometown Brussels the day after the rampage, having refused to blow himself up, and is believed to have spent much if not all of the subsequent four months in the city.
His brother Brahim carried out one of the suicide bomb attacks in Paris and was buried in a quiet ceremony in Brussels on Thursday, the day before Salah was captured.