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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
World
Lizzie Dearden

Paris attacks suspects Mohamed Abrini 'arrested in Belgium' amid links to Brussels bombings

The last named Paris attacks suspect remaining at large has reportedly been arrested in Belgium.

French officials said Mohamed Abrini, a 31-year-old Belgian national, was detained in Anderlecht on Friday according to public broadcaster VRT.

He has been on Europe's most wanted list since being caught on CCTV in a car with Salah Abdeslam two days before the massacres that killed 130 people.

CCTV images show Abrini at a petrol station on the way to Paris a few days before the attacks (AP)

Investigators said he travelled from Belgium to Paris and back with the Abdeslam brothers, his childhood friends, twice on 10 and 11 November and was seen driving a Renault Clio used during the attacks.

Brahim Abdeslam blew himself up in the Paris attacks and Salah was arrested in Brussels two weeks ago, just days before Isis suicide bombers struck in Belgium.

French police sources confirmed Abrini's arrest, which was linked to the attacks at Brussels Airport and Maelbeek Metro station by Belgian media.

De Redactie reported that Abrini could be the unidentified "man in the hat" who fled after being caught on CCTV with two of the airport bombers.

In witness appeals following the Paris attacks, officials described him as “dangerous and probably armed”, urging the public not to approach.

Abrini was previously known to police as a petty criminal and is believed to have travelled to Syria last summer, where his younger brother died fighting for Isis.

He and Abdeslam are the only surviving suspects from the Paris attacks following the deaths of Abdelhamid Abaaoud and Mohamed Belkaid in police raids.

A second man named as Osama Krayem, who is believed to have been seen with the Metro suicide bomber in Brussels, was also reportedly held as part of the same operation.

A third man, named as Abu Amrid, was also detained according to Politico.

It came a day after police issued new images and information tracing the movements of the mystery “man in the hat” after he fled Brussels Airport, as part of an appeal for witnesses.

A spokesperson for the Belgian federal prosecutor's office said there were "several arrests" linked to the Brussels attacks on Friday but would not immediately give any details.

Additional reporting by agencies

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