Terrorism suspect Salah Abdeslam, who has promised to cooperate with French authorities over his role in the November 13 Paris attacks, has been cleared for extradition to France, Belgian authorities ruled Thursday.
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Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said “no specific target” had been identified for the foiled attack but that the cache of weapons showed an imminent act of “extreme violence” had likely been prevented. His arrest was part of a sweep of terror suspects following the Brussels attacks that killed more than 30 and injured 270 others, but was not directly tied to the Belgium bombings. After crossing back into Belgium the day after the attacks he was Europe’s No. 1 fugitive until Belgian authorities caught him on March 18.
Arnaud Feist, chief executive of Brussels Airport, said Saturday that the country had been through “the darkest days in the history of aviation in Belgium” and that the airport’s reopening was a “sign of hope”.
His lawyer, Cedric Moisse, said on March 31that Abdeslam had dropped his opposition to extradition to France and signaled that his client would be willing to talk to French authorities.
Under the temporary arrangements, Zaventem airport would be able to handle 800 departing passengers per hour – around 20 per cent of normal capacity, it said.
“Luckily, I did not follow through”, Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving terrorist of the attacks in the French capital, added.
But the plot Kriket was allegedly involved in was not connected to the attacks in Brussels or in Paris, according to French officials.
Salah Abdeslam has been linked to at least two of the Brussels attack bombers. Abdeslam was arrested last month in Brussels. Khalid El Bakraoui, who blew himself up at the metro, rented a flat in Brussels where Abdeslam’s fingerprints were found following a raid.
Investigators say Najim Laachraoui, named as one of the two Brussels airport bombers, was stopped by police in a auto with Abdeslam on the Hungarian border with Austria in September.
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At the time of Kriket’s arrest, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the apprehended suspect was in the “advanced stages” of planning an attack in conjunction with “a terrorist network”.
