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| Paris attacks: Belgian suspect 'directly linked' to Isis attacks arrested in Morocco | Paris attacks: Belgian suspect 'directly linked' to Isis attacks arrested in Morocco |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Moroccan authorities say they have arrested a Belgian national of Moroccan origin “directly linked” to the Paris attacks. | |
| The suspect’s name was not immediately announced but a statement gave his initials as GA in Arabic, Sky News reported. Officials said the man had travelled to Syria to fight with Jabhat al-Nusra, before joining Isis. | |
| A spokesperson for Morocco's interior ministry said the man was arrested on Monday near Casablanca, after travelling through Turkey, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. | |
| Several arrests have been made in relation to the Paris attacks in Morocco, where a warrant was also issued in November for fugitive Salah Abdeslam. | |
| The 26-year-old French-Moroccan national was born in Brussels, where investigations have since traced him to a flat where suicide belts were manufactured. | |
| He is thought to be the last member of the terror cell who murdered 130 people in the French capital at large, after fleeing to Belgium and then disappearing the following day. | |
| The Moroccan warrant was issued as international manhunt continued, although there was no indication he was in the country at the time. | |
| Abdeslam’s brother, Brahim Abdeslam, blew himself up on the Boulevard Voltaire, and he reportedly met alleged “mastermind” Abdelhamid Abaaoud in prison. | |
| The Isis militant’s younger brother, Yassine Abaaoud, had been arrested in the Moroccan city of Agadir in October after landing in the country. | |
| Moroccan authorities have arrested scores of suspected Isis militants in recent months, including a cell allegedly planning a bombing attack. | |
| Around 1,500 Moroccan nationals are believed to be fighting with armed groups in Syria and Iraq. | |
| Authorities estimated that around 220 have returned home and been jailed and 286 have been killed by the end of last year. | |
| Additional reporting by Reuters and AP |