PARIS – Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in the terrorist attacks in Paris in November, was handed over to French authorities Wednesday, where he is slated to stand trial in the coming months, Belgium’s federal prosecutor said.
The French prosecutor’s office confirmed that Salah, 26, arrived in Paris Wednesday morning and that he will face investigative judges later Wednesday for eventual charges.
Abdeslam was arrested in the Brussels district of Molenbeek on March 18 after four months of eluding authorities in both Belgium and France. He is wanted in France in connection with the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris, which killed 130 people.
His capture in Brussels came just four days before the series of bombings at Brussels’ international airport and one of the city’s metro stations, which killed 32 people and injured hundreds more.
Since late last month, Abdeslam had been detained in a prison in northern Belgium. His transfer to France follows a European arrest warrant that was issued immediately after his capture. He is expected to stand trial in France in the coming months.
Abdeslam’s capture was a watershed moment in the ongoing investigation into the cell of largely European-born jihadists who are thought to have orchestrated the Paris attacks.
Inspired by the Islamic State, that terror cell is a network of young European citizens who were allegedly able to pass with ease through Europe’s internal and external borders as they plotted their attacks.
But his capture was also a plot point in the evolving plans of the Brussels-based cell to attack daily life in Europe.
As investigators confirmed after his arrest, the group had initially planned a second attack in France, but because of encroaching arrests opted for a quicker and easier local option instead. This became the March 22 attacks on Brussels.
Links between the two attacks have become increasingly clear in recent weeks.
