A Belgian man of Moroccan descent who has been learned to have “direct links” with the Paris attackers was arrested in Morocco on Friday. Authorities caught the suspect in the port city of Mohammedia near Casablanca and Rabat.
The Guardian reported that the suspect allegedly travelled to Syria together with one of the suicide bombers who killed himself last November in the northern Paris district of Saint-Denis – the location which was near the State de France national stadium.
During the suspect’s stay in Syria, the unnamed Belgian man first joined the al-Nusra Front (an al-Qaida’s Syrian affiliate) before directly working with the Islamic State which claimed responsibility for the historical Paris attacks.
It was also in Syria that he received military training and was able to make connections with ISIS commanders. Officials claim that the suspect entered Morocco via Netherlands.
Although the Morrocan government did not release the identity of the suspect, Mirror speculates that the Belgian man could be Salah Abdeslam. Abdeslam, who is still a fugitive, is known to be the most wanted man in Europe.
According to the publication, he isbelieved to have been illegally transported back to Belgium by two accomplice hours after the attacks. At present, police believes that he may have escaped and went to Morocco.
Meanwhile in France, prosecutors have identified the accused planner of the November terrorist attack in Paris. Yahoo reported that the suspect is Belgian national Abdelhamid Abaaoud. He died during a shootout with police.
Moroccan authorities helped put French investigators on the trail of Abaaoud.
One of the suspects in the attacks has been identified by French authorities last week as Belgian-Moroccan man Chakib Akrouh. Accoring to Brussels prosecutors, he had travelled to Syria in 2013 to join IS.
The Islamic State reigned terror last November in various parts of Paris. The militant group carried out a series of shootings and bombings which killed at least 130 people, making it the bloodiest attack in the Europe continent since the 2004 bombing in Madrid.
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