Paris attacks suspect ‘caught on CCTV’

Hours earlier Abdeslam had taken part in the deadliest terror attack in French history, in which 130 people were killed in multiple bomb and gun attacks on a sports stadium and nightspots in the French capital.

Abdeslam’s brother was one of the suicide bombers that targeted the Stade de France stadium on 13 November.

The 26-year-old is believed to have played a key role in organising the attacks in the name of Islamic State.

On November 14, two Belgian citizens later identified as Hamza Attou and Mohamed Amri, were detained in connection with the Paris attacks.

Their relaxed mood can be explained by the fact that media hadn’t yet released the photos of Abdeslam and he had not been named the major suspect in the Paris attacks.

Abdeslam has been on the run since after police admitted they “lost him”.

Attou and fellow getaway accomplice Mohammed Amri were arrested by Belgian police in December, and admitted to driving Abdeslam back to Brussels from Paris, but denied any involvement in the attacks. The latter are notably used in Kalashnikov automatic rifles similar to those used in the Paris attacks.

Abdeslam is believed to have been in charge of logistics for the groups of gunmen who carried out the attacks.

Inside the Rue Henri Berge apartment, three handmade belts were found by police, and “could have been intended for the transport of explosives”, the prosecutor’s office said.

He said plastic bottles cut in half and containing an unknown substance were also discovered in the apartment, and are being tested by forensic specialists.

Paris was again jolted Thursday when a man wearing a fake explosives vest and wielding a butcher’s knife ran up to a police station and was shot to death by officers standing guard.