Suspected explosive belt found in south of Paris
PARIS ( Reuters) — An object believed to be an explosive belt was found on Monday in a town south of Paris, near where a phone used by suspected assailant Salah Abdeslam was detected on the night of the attacks, a source close to the investigation said.
Abdeslam, whose brother blew himself up in the Paris attacks, has been on the run since the assault that killed 130 people in the French capital on Nov. 13 and is the focus of a massive manhunt.
French investigators initially believed Abdeslam had been in a black Seat Leon car that was used in the shootings at restaurants and cafes in the 10th and 11th districts of the capital.
A source close to the investigation said, however, that Abdeslam’s mobile phone was detected after the attacks in the northern 18th district of Paris, near an abandoned Renault Clio car that Abdeslam had rented.
The source said there was now a “strong suspicion” he had been driving the Clio rather than being in the Seat.
Since there were no explosions in the 18th, investigators are now wondering whether there was a failed or aborted attack, the source said.
Abdeslam’s phone was detected later on Nov. 13 by a mobile phone mast in Chatillon near Montrouge where the suspected explosive belt was dumped.
“The thesis that he abandoned (the attack) is just coming from people who brought him back (to Belgium). Maybe he had a technical problem with his explosive belt, for example,” said a police source.
Meanwhile, Belgium extended a maximum security alert in Brussels for a week, but said the metro system and schools could re-open on Thursday.