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2nd LD Writethru: Four suspects placed under arrest linked with Paris, Brussels attacks

Xinhua, April 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

The investigating judge in Brussels, specialized in terrorism support cases relating to attacks in Paris and Brussels, placed four suspects under arrest, announced Saturday the Belgian federal prosecutor.

Mohamed Abrini, involved in the attacks in Paris, and five others were arrested Friday in Brussels by the Belgian police.

The Belgian-Moroccan had been filmed at a gas station to Paris two days before the November bombings, along with Salah Abdeslam.

Since the arrest of Abdeslam, Abrini is one of the suspects linked to the "most wanted terrorist" in Paris.

Abrini would be more than likely "man in the hat" in the overview of surveillance cameras of the Zaventem Airport on the morning of Brussels attacks, according to some local media reports. His DNA was found in an apartment in Schaerbeek in Brussels, from which the kamikazes left for attacks of March 22 in Brussels.

He was placed under arrest and charged the head of participation in "a terrorist group and terrorist murders".

According to the Belgian federal prosecutor, it is not yet possible to determine whether or not Abrini is the third present man during the attacks at the airport, the man with the hat.

Another suspect arrested Friday is Osama Krayem. The investigative action carried out as part of the Brussels bombings investigation have revealed that Krayem is the second man who was present during the attack in the Maelbeek metro station.

He was also present in the City 2 shop center of Brussels when buying bags that were used in the attacks, reported the Belgian broadcaster RTBF.

He was placed under arrest and charged with participation in "a terrorist group and terrorist murders".

Two other suspects, Herve B. M. and E. M. Bilal, are charged with participation in "a terrorist group and terrorist murders complicity".

But the two people who were arrested along Abrini were released after thorough hearing.

These arrests represent an important step in investigating the radical cell that committed the killings in Paris and Brussels, said the Belgian broadcaster RTBF.

However, the National Security Council, having a meet Friday evening, decided to keep the terrorist alert level to 3, "possible and probable" threat, on a scale of four. Endit