Suspected Paris attacks mastermind did not pass through Greece: Greek public order ministry

The suspected mastermind of the deadly Paris terrorist attacks on Nov. 13, Abdelhamid Abboud, did not pass through Greece, the Greek public order ministry said on Friday in response to a statement released by French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve.

Cazeneuve announced that an intelligence service of a non-European country conveyed the information that Abboud, a Belgian national of Moroccan origin, had passed through Greece.

The Greek side categorically dismissed the claim in a press release, expressing "sorrow" for the French official's remark.

"This information was never confirmed and so far we have received no clue from any source supporting this claim which is based solely on media reports dating back to January 2015 that are being reproduced," the Greek statement said.

In January, after the revelation that a jihadist cell had been planning a terror attack in Belgium, there were reports that the phone belonging to Abboud, who was then wanted as a leading figure in this case, was traced to Greece.

Following an investigation and the raid of an apartment in a central Athens district, Greek police arrested four persons and deported to Belgium an Algerian on charges of terrorist activity, but Abboud was not among those detained, Greek officials said. Endit