Paris Suspect 'Didn't Know' Of Brussels Plot
The denial by Salah Abdeslam comes amid reports another bomber was involved in the deadly Belgium attacks and may be on the run.
Abdeslam claims he was unaware of the plot despite links between attackers
Abdeslam claims he was unaware of the plot despite links between attackers
The denial by Salah Abdeslam comes
amid mounting evidence of strong links between the
extremists that
carried out this week's Belgium bombings and those behind the atrocities in the
French capital last November.
Meanwhile, it has been reported the authorities
suspect a second bomber was involved in the deadly attack on Maalbeek metro
station.
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Abdeslam, who was captured in Brussels last week after four months on
the run following
the bombing and shooting rampage in Paris that left 130 people dead, has
also said he will no longer fight extradition to France.
Defence
lawyer Sven Mary said his client, a French citizen, wanted to return as
"quickly as possible" to "explain himself".
As investigations continue into the Brussels
attacks, local media have reported police examining CCTV footage believe
another man was involved in the bombing on the metro and could be on the run.
It had previously
been thought a lone suicide bomber, Khalid El Bakraoui, had carried out the
devastating strike.
The suspect was captured by surveillance
cameras in the metro on Tuesday carrying a large bag alongside Khalid, although
it is not known if he was also killed in the attack.
Khalid's brother, Ibrahim, was one of two
suicide attackers who targeted Brussels airport the same day.
It has emerged his accomplice, who also blew
himself up, was Najim Laachraoui, 24, identified as the bomb maker in the
Paris terror attacks.
Belgium has been accused of
ignoring warnings that Ibrahim was a "foreign terrorist
fighter".
He was caught in June last year at the
Turkish-Syrian border and deported to the Netherlands, but was allowed to walk
free after the Belgian authorities failed to establish any terror links, Turkey
said.
The latest developments come as the manhunt
continues for another suspect dressed in a light-coloured jacket and a hat.
Dubbed the "man in white", he was
pictured alongside Ibrahim El Bakraoui and Laachraoui, moments before they
detonated their suitcase bombs.
Prosecutors have
revealed his explosive device, which failed to detonate, was the largest of
them all.
Belgian counter-terror officials have raised
the prospect that other suspects linked to the attacks may also still be at
large.
At least 31 people were killed and 270 injured
in the suicide bomb attacks at Zaventem Airport and Maalbeek station on Tuesday
morning.
Among the dead were a student and a
mother of young twins.
Downing Street
said the number of Britons known to have been injured in the attack was now
six, four of whom have been discharged from hospital.
Concerns remain for David Dixon, originally
from Hartlepool but living in Brussels, who has not been heard from since
the metro explosion.
The UK's Home Secretary, Theresa May, is
meeting her EU counterparts in Brussels later for emergency talks about the bombings.
An EU statement said the meeting is
"intended to show solidarity with Belgium and discuss the actual state of
play in the fight against terrorism".
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