Paris Officials Name Abdelhamid Abaaoud as Suspected Paris Attack Mastermind

A French official identified the suspected mastermind as Belgian Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who is said to be linked to the thwarted attacks on a Paris-bound high-speed train and a Paris area church earlier this year.

“The search was negative and no judicial arrests were made”, Belgian prosecutors said of the 2 1/2-hour police operation that took place on Monday in Molenbeek’s rue Delaunoy. The Bataclan concert hall, where at least 80 were killed in a hostage situation, was one of several locations throughout Paris that were targeted during Friday’s attack.

The 27-year-old hailed from the Molenbeek neighbourhood of Brussels.

Turning to measures within France, he said he would ask parliament to consider extending a state of emergency by three months. Another suspect is said to be French native Salah Abdeslam, who is thought to have rented a vehicle used in the deadly shootings. Mohamed Abdeslam had been arrested over the weekend.

Some intelligence has pointed to the terror cell related to the Paris plot as involving 24 people, 19 attackers and or suicide bombers and five tasked with logistics and planning.

Islamic State, which has claimed responsibility for the attacks in retaliation for French airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, warned in a video on Monday that any country hitting it would suffer the same fate, promising specifically to target Washington.

A French security official said anti-terror intelligence officials had identified Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian of Moroccan descent, as chief architect of the attacks on a rock concert, a soccer game and popular nightspots in one of Paris’ trendiest districts.

A former French official confirmed to NBC News the names of two attackers, partially identified by French media as Ismail M. and Abbdul Akbak B., were correct.

But there was no official confirmation of what police were looking for as journalists gathered at the police barricades, which were set up close to one of Belgium’s largest mosques.

“This is not a time to play the blame game, but we are compelled to share (this) information to shed light on (Mostefai’s) travel history”, the Turkish official said.

After his trip to Syria in January 2014he is believed to have travelled to Greece.

Mr Khaled al-Homsi, an anti-government activist from Palmyra, who uses a nom de guerre for his safety and is the nephew of an archaeologist who was beheaded by ISIS fighters, issued a plea on Twitter to France, saying not all the city’s residents were ISIS militants and urging caution for the safety of civilians.

Kerry, who speaks fluent French, vowed: “We will defeat Daesh (IS) and all who share their despicable ideology, and we will continue to show compassion to those who seek refuge from the violence the terrorists engender”.

The news revived a furious row within the European Union on how to handle the flood of refugees.

Some reports suggest he once fought with IS in Syria.