Mayor of Molenbeek could testify before Paris investigating judge: reports

Philippe Moureaux, the former mayor of the Brussels district of Molenbeek, where several of the Paris terror attack suspects were from, could be called as a witness to give evidence to an investigating judge in Paris, according to several Belgian media reports on Saturday.

Samia Maktouf, lawyer of 20 victims of the Paris attacks on Nov. 13 last year, wants the former mayor to testify, after she read his book, The Truth About Molenbeek.

"On reading Mr. Moureaux's book, I think his closeness to some of the people who knew the attackers could help the judge establish the facts," the lawyer said.

The former mayor of Molenbeek says in his book that certain people who had either close or more distant links with the Paris attackers had confided in him.

Maktouf said: "He could not have not known. He could not have not warned about what was happening in his town."

The lawyer added that the victims she represents had bad feelings about Moureaux promoting his book in France. She said: "The man who was in charge of the town of Molenbeek for 20 years never had a word for the victims."

Moureaux said in an interview with the French TV news channel iTele on Thursday that he was ready to testify. "I am certainly not going to shirk my responsibility," he said. Enditem