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Salah Abdeslam, once the most-wanted man in Europe, has been charged in connection with the November Paris attacks.Video provided by Newsy Newslook
Officers guard the entrance to a building where Salah Abdeslam was arrested.(Photo: Nicolas Maeterlinck, AFP/Getty Images)
Accused terrorist Salah Abdeslam,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>suspected of planning<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Paris attacks that killed 130 people,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>has told investigators he<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was plotting another major assault<span style="color: Red;">*</span>when he was arrested in a Brussels suburb last week, a Belgian official said Sunday.
"It may be the reality because we have found a lot weapons, heavy weapons, in the first investigations and we have found a new network around<span style="color: Red;">*</span>him in Brussels,"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Belgium's Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said at a counterterrorism forum in Brussels. He added that authorities had discovered dozens of suspects, and "we are sure there are others."
INTERPOL warned that Abdeslam's arrest "may encourage any accomplices to attempt to flee Europe, or elsewhere."<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The international policing agency<span style="color: Red;">*</span>advised extra vigilance at border crossings for<span style="color: Red;">*</span>its 190 member countries.
Abdeslam,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>26, was taken into custody<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Friday<span style="color: Red;">*</span>by heavily armed police who swept into<span style="color: Red;">*</span>his apartment, guns blazing, less than a half-mile from his family's home in the Molenbeek neighborhood.
Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Abdeslam has told<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Belgian authorities he was was involved in the Nov. 13 Paris attacks and was supposed to die that night. Abdeslam said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>he dropped off the other attackers before changing his mind, dumping his own suicide vest and fleeing back to Belgium, Molins said.
USA TODAY
Official: Suspect admits taking part in Paris attacks
Abdeslam was stopped while crossing the border back into Belgium, but security officials allowed him to pass through the checkpoint.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Authorities believe the vest was found days later on a Parisian street.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>bloody series of assaults at cafes, a rock concert and a soccer game. Several attackers also died that night,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>including<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Abdeslam’s brother<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Brahim,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>who blew himself up.
Salah Abdeslam's lawyer, Sven Mary, told the Belgium news agency RTBF that he would fight extradition to France. He also said he would file a complaint against Molins, possibly as soon as Monday, for violating the secrecy of the investigation at a news<span style="color: Red;">*</span>conference Saturday.
"It is a mistake I cannot let pass," Mary said.
Mary acknowledged that Abdeslam was involved in the attacks<span style="color: Red;">*</span>but said his client has been extremely cooperative with authorities since his arrest.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Abdeslam faces a hearing Wednesday, but Mary said he won't argue for his client's release.
Abdeslam<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was wounded in Friday's raid that resulted in his arrest, but he was released from a hospital into police custody Saturday.
Abdeslam<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and another man arrested Friday<span style="color: Red;">*</span>have been charged with terrorist murder and participation in a terrorist group.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>A third<span style="color: Red;">*</span>man arrested in the operation in<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Molenbeek<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was<span style="color: Red;">*</span>charged with being a member of a terrorist organization and aiding and abetting criminals. A female detainee was charged with aiding and abetting and was<span style="color: Red;">*</span>released, Belgian<span style="color: Red;">*</span>prosecutors said. A second woman was released without charges.
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