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Salah Abdeslam, Suspect in Paris Attacks, Seeks Extradition to France Salah Abdeslam, Suspect in Paris Attacks, Seeks Extradition to France
(about 2 hours later)
BRUSSELS — Salah Abdeslam, who was captured on Friday and charged with terrorist murder over the November attacks in Paris, has not spoken to investigators since the bombings in Brussels on Tuesday and wants to be extradited to France, his lawyer said on Thursday. BRUSSELS — Salah Abdeslam, who was captured on Friday and charged with terrorist murder over the Paris attacks in November, wants to be extradited to France, his lawyer said on Thursday.
Mr. Abdeslam “wants to leave for France as quickly as possible,” Sven Mary, his lawyer, told reporters Thursday morning after a court hearing in Brussels. Mr. Abdeslam “wants to leave for France as quickly as possible,” the lawyer, Sven Mary, told reporters Thursday morning after a court hearing in Brussels.
The announcement was a reversal of Mr. Abdeslam’s position before the attacks at Brussels Airport and on a city subway train, which killed at least 31 people and wounded about 300 others. Mr. Abdeslam, 26, was Europe’s most wanted man until he was arrested on Friday in a raid in Molenbeek, the Brussels neighborhood where he grew up. He appears to be a crucial link between the two sets of attacks, both carried out by militants of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. The decision by Mr. Abdeslam, 26, to accept extradition was a reversal of his position. He was Europe’s most wanted man until he was arrested on Friday in a raid in Molenbeek, the Brussels neighborhood where he grew up. He appears to be a crucial link between the Paris attacks and those that struck Brussels on Tuesday, killing at least 31 people and wounding about 300 others. Both series of assaults were carried out by militants of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
After Mr. Abdeslam’s arrest, Mr. Mary had said his client intended to resist extradition to France.After Mr. Abdeslam’s arrest, Mr. Mary had said his client intended to resist extradition to France.
Asked why Mr. Abdeslam had changed his mind, Mr. Mary said that his client understood that “the case here is just a small piece” and that he wanted to “explain himself in France.” Asked why Mr. Abdeslam had changed his mind, Mr. Mary said that his client understood that “the case here is just a small piece,” and that he wanted to “explain himself in France.”
“Investigators went to see him yesterday, and he wants to see me first,” Mr. Mary had told the radio network Europe 1 earlier. Mr. Abdeslam has not spoken to investigators since the bombings in Brussels.
“I wouldn’t want him to clam up,” Mr. Mary added. “His clamming up would make us face other Zaventems and other Bataclans,” he said, referring to the Belgian airport that was bombed and to the Paris concert hall where 90 people were killed by gunmen in the Nov. 13 attacks. Asked what his client had said about the attacks, Mr. Mary replied, “He didn’t say, because he didn’t know it.” Asked if Mr. Abdeslam had reacted to the attacks, Mr. Mary responded, “He had no reaction.”
Mr. Abdeslam and two others — Abid Aberkan, a relative who is accused of having sheltered him; and a man who is suspected of being an accomplice and whose identity is unclear — appeared in a Brussels court Thursday morning, but the hearing was postponed to April 7 at the request of their defense lawyers, the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement. Mr. Mary had earlier told Europe 1 radio, “Investigators went to see him yesterday, and he wants to see me first.” He added that he was not encouraging his client to remain silent.
The man who is suspected of being an accomplice, who was arrested along with Mr. Abdeslam last Friday in Molenbeek, has used various aliases, including Amine Choukri, Monir Ahmed Alaaj and Soufien Ayari. “I wouldn’t want him to clam up,” Mr. Mary added. “His clamming up would make us face other Zaventems and other Bataclans,” he said, referring to the Belgian airport that was bombed and to the Paris concert hall where 90 people were killed by gunmen on Nov. 13.
Mr. Abdeslam and two others — Abid Aberkan, a relative who is accused of having sheltered him; and a man who is suspected of being an accomplice and whose identity is unclear — appeared in a Brussels court Thursday morning, but the hearing was postponed to April 7 at the request of their lawyers.
The man who is suspected of being an accomplice has used various aliases, including Amine Choukri, Monir Ahmed Alaaj and Soufien Ayari. He was arrested with Mr. Abdeslam last Friday in Molenbeek.
Mr. Abdeslam’s arrest appeared to have set off an anxious response by his associate Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, 29, one of three suicide bombers who carried out the Brussels attacks.
In a statement found on a computer that was discarded in a trash can, Mr. Bakraoui wrote that he was wanted, felt unsafe, did not know what to do and feared that if he dallied, he risked ending up “next to him in a cell,” the Belgian federal prosecutor, Frédéric Van Leeuw, said on Wednesday.
He did not specify whether “him” referred to Mr. Abdeslam.