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Belgium: still unsure whether suspect Abrini is ‘man in hat’ Belgium: still unsure whether suspect Abrini is ‘man in hat’
(35 minutes later)
BRUSSELS — Belgian authorities said the remaining fugitive suspect in the Nov. 13 Paris attacks was arrested in Belgium on Friday, after a raid linked to the deadly March 22 Brussels bombings yielded five detentions in all. BRUSSELS — Belgian authorities arrested five men suspected of links to last month’s bombings in Brussels on Friday, including the last remaining identified fugitive in the Nov. 13 Paris attacks.
The suspect, Mohamed Abrini, could be the mysterious “man in the hat” who escaped the double bombing at the Zaventem airport, but federal prosecutors said they still needed further verification. After weeks of speculation about a mysterious “man in the hat” who escaped the Brussels attacks while three suicide bombers blew themselves up, authorities were checking whether that man was indeed Mohamed Abrini, the last identified suspect at large from the Paris attacks until Friday.
“We are investigating if Abrini can be identified as the third person at the Brussels national airport, the so- called man with the hat,” said prosecutor Eric Van der Sypt. Abrini is now suspected in playing a role in the two biggest attacks carried out by the Islamic State in Europe over the past year, killing a total of 162 people — 130 in Paris and 32 in Brussels. French authorities had renewed their call to arrest an armed and dangerous Abrini within hours of the March 22 Brussels attacks.
Another man arrested on Friday, Osama K., alias Naim al Ahmed, was seen with Brussels subway bomber Khalid El Bakraoui just before the March 22 attacks, the prosecutor said. “We are investigating if Abrini can be positively identified as the third person present during the attacks in Brussels National Airport (Zaventem), the so called man in the hat,” said prosecutor Eric Van der Sypt.
The man literally walked away from the airport attack, where two suicide bombers blew themselves up, killing 16. Authorities also detained four other men on Friday, including a man, Osama K, suspected of having contact with the suicide bomber who blew himself up in the Brussels subway, killing another 16.
Osama K. was also filmed by security cameras in the City 2 shopping mall when the bags were bought that were used by the suicide bombers who attacked Brussels Airport the same morning.Osama K. was also filmed by security cameras in the City 2 shopping mall when the bags were bought that were used by the suicide bombers who attacked Brussels Airport the same morning.
Belgian prosecutors said fingerprints and DNA from Abrini had been found in a Renault Clio used in the Paris attacks, and in an apartment in the Forest area of the Belgian capital that was used by Salah Abdeslam, another Paris suspect, as a hideout until police stumbled upon it. Belgian prosecutors said Abrini’s fingerprints and DNA were not only in a Renault Clio used in the Nov. 13 attacks that killed 130 in Paris, but also in an apartment in the Schaerbeek area of Brussels used by the Brussels bombers.
Friday’s arrest of five suspects came a day after Belgian authorities released photos and video of the “man in the hat” airport suspect. Five hours after the initial detentions, authorities were still carrying out a raid in the same Anderlecht area of Brussels. Friday’s detentions and the fact that they caught Abrini alive constituted a rare moment of light for the Belgian authorities after they were hounded for the past two weeks, accused of several blunders in their handling of the attacks.
The government and top security officials gathered in a national security council meeting in the wake of Friday’s detention to assess the consequences of the operation. Prime Minister Charles Michel had to refuse the offers of resignation of both the interior and justice ministers before Friday’s detentions provided a breakthrough in the investigation.
Abrini’s precise role in the Paris attacks has never been clear, as is his full link to the Brussels. He is a 31-year-old Belgian-Moroccan petty criminal believed to have traveled early last summer to Syria where his younger brother died in 2014 in the Islamic State group’s notorious francophone brigade. In a strange twist, French lawmakers investigating the Paris attacks went earlier in the day to Molenbeek, the home neighborhood of many of the Islamic State extremists involved in what one analyst described as a terrorist “supercell.”
Friday was three weeks to the day that authorities also arrested in another Brussels neighborhood Salah Abdeslam, also a key suspect in the Paris attacks who had been on the run for four months.
Abdeslam is currently awaiting extradition to France while Belgian investigators probe his links to other suspects involved in the Brussels attacks.
On Thursday, Belgian investigators still seemed to be at a loss when they issued a call for help from the public with more pictures and videos of the “man in the hat.”
The suspect was seen wheeling in bombs into the airport with two others before leaving the building ahead of the explosions. He was then traced back by CCTV into the center of town.
Despite multiple arrests, Brussels remains under the second-highest terror alert — meaning an attack is considered likely.
Abrini’s precise role in the Paris attacks has never been clear, as is his full link to the Brussels attacks. Abrini is a 31-year-old Belgian-Moroccan, known as a petty criminal before he was believed to have traveled early last summer to Syria where his younger brother died in 2014 in the Islamic State group’s notorious francophone brigade.
He had not resurfaced since the emergence of surveillance video placing him in the convoy with the attackers headed to Paris. He had ties to Abdelhamid Abbaoud, the ringleader of the Paris attacks who died in a police standoff on Nov. 18, and is a childhood friend of brothers Salah and Brahim Abdeslam.He had not resurfaced since the emergence of surveillance video placing him in the convoy with the attackers headed to Paris. He had ties to Abdelhamid Abbaoud, the ringleader of the Paris attacks who died in a police standoff on Nov. 18, and is a childhood friend of brothers Salah and Brahim Abdeslam.
He went multiple times to Birmingham, England, last year, meeting with several men suspected of terrorist activity, a European security official has told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to provide details on the investigation. He said the meetings, including one later last summer, took place in several locations, including cafes and apartments.He went multiple times to Birmingham, England, last year, meeting with several men suspected of terrorist activity, a European security official has told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to provide details on the investigation. He said the meetings, including one later last summer, took place in several locations, including cafes and apartments.
He was traveling with Salah Abdeslam, who is in jail in Belgium for involvement in the Paris attacks, in the convoy headed to Paris in the 36 hours leading up to the attacks. He was traveling with Salah Abdeslam in the convoy headed to Paris in the days leading up to the attacks.
The man in the hat was with the two suicide bombers who killed 16 people at Brussels airport on March 22. A second arrest could also be linked to the Maelbeek subway bombing that killed another 16 people during rush hour that morning.
On Thursday, authorities released photos and video of a man wearing a dark hat, leaving the airport on foot, walking to the nearby town of Zaventem and then into Brussels, where all traces of him were reportedly lost.
The appeal for public assistance more than two weeks after the suicide bombings indicates that investigators were at a standstill.
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Lori Hinnant contributed from Paris Lori Hinnant contributed from Paris.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.