News

Actions

Five in custody, including top Paris attack suspect

Posted at 6:58 AM, Mar 19, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-19 06:58:32-04

BRUSSELS (AP) — French President Francois Hollande is holding an emergency defense meeting in Paris today following the arrest in Belgium of the top suspect in last year’s deadly Paris attacks.

Hollande warns that more arrests will come as authorities try to dismantle a network that is much larger than originally suspected. France will likely request a fast-track extradition of Salah Abdeslam.

Abdeslam was shot in the leg and faces questioning in Belgium as soon as he is declared able by doctors. The French national is subject to a European arrest warrant issued by France.

Meanwhile, there’s information that an Algerian gunman newly linked to the attacks after being killed by police this week joined the Islamic State group in 2014 and said he wanted to die as a suicide bomber.

Previously unknown to authorities, Mohamed Belkaid was shot to death Tuesday in a raid that led to Abdeslam.

The information is from exclusive documents given to The Associated Press by the Syrian opposition news site Zaman al-Wsl.