Belgium police detain 2 over Paris attacks

Belgian police on Wednesday held two people for questioning in connection with the Paris attacks, after carrying out a series of searches in their hunt for key suspects with links to the November 13 massacre.

"This morning five premises were searched in the Brussels region, concerning the ongoing federal investigation into the fugitive Mohamed Abrini and into Ahmed Dahmani who is currently detained in Turkey," the federal prosecutor said in a statement.

Belgium last week issued an international arrest warrant for Abrini, 30, who was filmed along with top suspect Salah Abdeslam at a petrol station on a motorway near Paris in a car that was later used in the attacks.

Dahmani, a Belgian citizen of Moroccan origin, reportedly scouted out targets for the Paris attacks and was arrested in Turkey as he was allegedly trying to make his way to Syria.

The searches took place in several Brussels neighbourhoods, including the troubled Molenbeek district where several of the Paris attackers resided, including suspected ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who was killed in a raid by French police.

CNN on Monday said Salah Abdeslam, who is Belgian, had managed to slip out of Europe and into Syria since the atrocity, though investigators believe he may still be in Europe.

Belgian investigators said on Tuesday they are working on the assumption that Abdeslam is still in Belgium, where he is believed to have fled to hours after the Paris attacks.
Source: AFP