During the lead-up to the Brussels attacks, Salah Abdeslam, thought to be the lone surviving member of the 10-man team of terrorists in Paris, was arrested in Brussels.
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Abdeslam’s lawyer, Sven Mary, told reporters he asked for a one-month delay on any transfer while he studies the large dossier, but Abdeslam “wants to leave for France as quickly as possible” .
Abdeslam has been been held in a high security jail since his dramatic arrest at a Brussels flat on Friday, four days before suicide bombers struck a Brussels airport and metro in the most devastating attacks in Belgian history.
If Laachraoui both committed a suicide attack in Brussels and built the bombs for the Paris attack, as police claimed, that would be unusual: Bombmakers usually are seen as too valuable to kill themselves, the Washington Post wrote. Authorities have identified the third suicide bomber as Najim Laachraoui, a Moroccan-born Belgian and suspected bomb maker for European plots by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL.
The decision was also taken despite reports that authorities suspect a second bomber was involved in the deadly attack on Maalbeek station who could also be on the run.
He will meet with Belgian officials including Prime Minister Charles Michel and Foreign Minister Didier Reynders, as well as EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
The incident is not the first time that terrorists have looked to attack a nuclear site in Belgium. It was not clear when Bakraoui was handed over to Belgian authorities. A Turkish government official said he was deported twice from Turkey in July and August after re-entering the country.
The other was his brother, Khalid El-Bakhraoui, who was the subway suicide bomber, officials said.
Belgian officials have not publicly linked any of the remains to Laachraoui; nor have they said he was involved in the Brussels attack.
Authorities reportedly issued a warrant for Khalid’s arrest in December, and they suspected that he had used a false name to rent a Brussels apartment in Charleroi and use it as a safe house for the Paris attackers.
Federal prosecutors said in a statement late Thursday that the detentions were made during raids in central Brussels, Jette and the Schaerbeek neighborhood.
Three people in a vehicle were taken into custody right outside the prosecutor’s office, public broadcaster RTBF reported.
A message left on Ibrahim El Bakraoui’s laptop found by the police said that he suspected the police were searching for him and did not want to end up in a cell, the Guardian reported on its website.
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The March 22 attacks in Brussels have highlighted security challenges facing Europe, and revealed how Belgium has struggled to rise to those challenges.
