Salah Abdeslam, who is suspected of involvement in the Paris terror attacks, will not fight extradition from Belgium to France, the BBC reports.
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At least 31 people were killed and 271 wounded in yesterday’s attacks, and the toll could still increase further.
Khalid el-Bakraoui bombed a nearby subway station while his brother, Ibrahim, bombed the airport with Laachraoui.
Numerous dead remain unidentified, partly because of the severity of devastation caused by the nail-packed bombs detonated in crowds. They also found a computer in a street trash can that contained a suicide note from Ibrahim, who wrote that he felt increasingly unsafe.
A picture taken off CCTV showing suspects in the Brussels airport attack on March 22, 2016.
Security authorities in Europe are under pressure after Turkish authorities said that Ankara had expelled one of the Brussels suicide bombers back to Europe.
Salah Abdeslam is scheduled to face magistrates Thursday morning after his arrest last week in the same Brussels neighborhood where he grew up.
France’s Le Monde and the Belgian broadcaster RTBF said the man was carrying a big bag and was considered a potential fifth attacker.
Investigators speculated at the time that the two men seen on security video collecting the camera footage might have been considering a plan to kidnap the scientist in question an effort to gain access to a nuclear facility; police said that there was a threat to the individual, but not to the facilities.
He was caught in June past year at the Turkish-Syrian border and deported to the Netherlands, but they let him go after the Belgians failed to establish any links with terrorism, Turkey said.
Abdeslam was arrested on Friday in the Brussels neighbourhood where he grew up, a rough place with links to several of the attackers who targeted a Paris stadium, rock concert and cafes on November 13.
TATP high explosives have been used extensively by Islamic State jihadists.
He also updated the casualty count: 34 people have now been confirmed killed and 270 people were injured in the attacks at Brussels Airport and Maalbeek metro station – but he warned those figures “could continue to rise”.
European Union justice and interior ministers held an emergency Thursday afternoon to discuss the attacks, and pledged to cooperate more closely on intelligence sharing. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
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“The difference is that in 2014, some of these IS fighters were only being given a couple weeks of training”, the official said, using another name for ISIS. Besides those killed, about 300 people were injured. The Belgian was notified that Ibrahim was captured in a police operation to find terror suspects.
