Some of the Brussels suspects have also been linked to Salah Abdesalam, the main surviving Paris attacks suspect, who had spent four months on the run before he was captured in Brussels last Friday.
Advertisement
Asked why Mr. Abdeslam had changed his mind, Mr. Mary said that his client understood that “the case here is just a small piece”, and that he wanted to “explain himself in France”.
Earlier Thursday, authorities said they believe a fifth suspect was also involved in the Islamic State bombings – two at Zaventem International Airport and one at a nearby subway station – that killed at least 31 people and wounded hundreds more.
The brothers – Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, 30, and Khalid el-Bakraoui, 27 – were both Belgian and had a criminal history, but they had no known links to terrorism until the authorities conducted a raid on March 15 on an apartment in the Forest district of Brussels as part of the investigation into the November 13 attacks in Paris.
Police investigating the Brussels suicide attacks are working to identify a man filmed in the company of metro train bomber Khalid el-Bakraoui shortly before he blew himself up, French and Belgian media have reported.
An unidentified third suspected airport attacker is on the run. The country lowered its threat level late Thursday, but said the potential for attacks remains likely. His lawyer, who had initially vowed to fight extradition, said Abdeslam now wants to be sent to France as soon as possible.
The name was not released, but it was already in US terrorism databases at the time of the bombings, the official said.
IS claimed responsibility for the attacks in Brussels and Paris, which have laid bare European security failings and prompted calls for better intelligence cooperation and a tougher response to IS extremists. Members of the security forces stood guard around the neighborhood housing the headquarters of European Union institutions, as nervous Brussels residents began returning to school and work under a misty rain.
Over the border in France, police arrested man in the Paris area who was in “the advanced stages” of a plot to attack France, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.
Prosecutors, who have not said how many people overall may have taken part in the bombings, did not immediately respond to the reports.
Belgium is holding three days of national mourning.
Belgian investigators discovered Laachraoui’s true identity after the Paris attacks, and suspected he played a key role in making the explosive vests used in the Paris attacks.
The Brussels attacks are widely thought to have been in retaliation for Abdeslam’s arrest – or to have been brought forward for fear that he might give the gang away under interrogation.
Advertisement
Islamic State has trained at least 400 fighters to target Europe in deadly waves of attacks, like the ones that struck Brussels and Paris, officials have told The Associated Press.
