Abrini, 30, was filmed with Abdeslam at a fuel station in northern France on November 11 and was driving the Renault Clio auto later used by the attackers in the French capital.
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Belgian police said that Abrini was “armed and unsafe”. A new USA intelligence bulletin warns law enforcement to review training for dealing with active shooters after the Paris attacks showed signs of prior surveillance, tactical planning and military-style training.
Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Abrini, the prosecutor’s office said.
The suspected ringleader of the deadly Paris terror attacks planned to strike again on a major business district in the city’s metropolitan area just days later, Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins said today.
Police sealed off two rooms inside the mosque and decontaminated 17 people who may have come in contact with the powder, two of them police officers, Captain Wibin said.
Belgium has been at the heart of investigations into the attacks since France said two of the suicide bombers in Paris had lived there.
The analysis “leads us to believe that Abaaoud returned to the scene of the crimes after the attack carried out on the people sitting at tables at restaurants and while the BRI (elite police) were intervening at the Bataclan”, prosecutor Francois Molins said.
The alleged mastermind behind this month’s Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people and injured 350 more took an active part in the carnage and even returned to the scenes of the assaults to examine his handiwork, French authorities said Tuesday. They included suspected attacks orchestrator Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a female cousin and one other person. A fifth has not been identified.
Abdeslam is recorded as entering Belgium from France the day after the attacks.
The attack has been traced to a network of people with ties to both France and Belgium, where Abaaoud was from.
Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon said raids carried out Sunday night had been created to foil an imminent attack in Brussels.
Cazeneuve didn’t say what the indictments were related to or whether they were directly linked to the attacks.
Increased security measures in the wake of the massacre in Paris have virtually shut down the Belgian capital, with the subway system, many shops, and schools remaining shut. Two explosive vests were found at the Saint-Denis hideout while Abdeslam made calls to Belgium after the attack.
Images of the city’s streets deserted as security forces hunted suspected Islamist militants have dealt a blow to Belgium’s tourism industry, with hotels reporting many cancellations.
Mr Obama described Islamic State as a “barbaric terrorist group”, adding that “its murderous ideology poses a serious threat to all of us”.
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At a joint news conference, Hollande said he and Obama shared a “relentless determination to fight terrorism anywhere and everywhere”.
