Investigators identify three apartments used by Paris attacks suspects: prosecutor
Xinhua, January 13, 2016 Adjust font size:
Investigators in Belgium have now identified three properties believed to have been used by the suspects in the Nov. 13 Paris terror attacks, local media reported on Wednesday.
La Libre Belgique newspaper said the Belgian federal prosecutor had confirmed that an apartment in the southern Belgian city of Charleroi was rented under a false identity and is thought to have been used as a meeting point for the Abdeslam brothers and Abdelhamid Abaaoud on Nov. 12 before they headed to the French capital to commit the attacks.
Two other homes were also rented under fake names in nearby Auvelais and in the Brussels district of Schaerbeek, the federal prosecutor added. In all three cases, the rent and deposit were paid in cash.
According to La Libre Belgique, the Charleroi property was raided on Dec. 9 and fingerprints were found belonging to Bilal Hadfi and Abdelahmid Abaaoud, but no weapons or explosives. The property was rented under the false name of Ibrahim Maaroufi for a one-year period from September 2015.
The apartment in Schaerbeek was rented under the fake identity of Castillo Fernando, again for a year from September 2015, and was raided on Dec. 10, the prosecutor added, with police seizing explosive belts as well as finding fingerprints of Salah Abdeslam and Bilal Hadfi.
The third property, in Auvelais, was rented under the false name Soufiane Kayal in October 2015 for a year and was raided on Nov. 26, La Libre Belgique's report added. Endit