ZCZC
BFF-56
BELGIUM-FRANCE-ATTACKS-SUSPECT
Belgium hands Paris attacks suspect to France
BRUSSELS, June 11, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Belgian authorities on Monday handed a
key suspect in the 2015 Paris attacks and 2016 Brussels bombings over to
France for questioning ahead of possible terror charges by French
prosecutors.
Osama Krayem, a Swede of Syrian origin, was transferred “for one day to the
French judicial authorities on the subject of his hearing and possible
indictment by the investigating judge in Paris”, Belgian prosecutors said in
a statement.
Investigators suspect the 25-year-old of playing a key role in the jihadist
cell behind the attacks in Paris, which killed 130 people, and Brussels,
which left 32 people dead. Both were claimed by the Islamic State group.
Krayem is suspected of buying the bags used for the Brussels attacks and
was caught on CCTV minutes before one of the blasts with suicide bomber
Khalid El Bakraoui both carrying huge backpacks. Krayem failed to go through
with his suicide attack.
Like other members of the cell, Krayem travelled to Syria after 2014 before
apparently hiding himself among migrants in order to return to Europe from
Syria in 2015.
Two years after he was arrested in Brussels in April 2016, questions remain
over Krayem’s true role in the attacks. Questioned repeatedly in Belgium, he
has denied any role in the Paris attacks and in making bombs.
According to the terms of the arrest warrant issued by France in 2016,
Krayem faces questioning and possible charges for “involvement in terrorist
murders”, “associating with terrorist criminals”, and for producing explosive
devices.
Traces of Krayem’s DNA were found in several hideouts in Belgium used by
the Paris attackers, in particular the place used to make the expolsive belts
used in the Paris attacks.
BSS/AFP/MRI/1940 hrs