Paris attacks suspect reportedly planning new operations

PanARMENIAN.Net - The top suspect in last year's Paris attacks told investigators after he was captured that he was planning new operations from Brussels and possibly had access to several weapons, Belgium's foreign minister said Sunday, March 20, according to AFP.

Salah Abdeslam had claimed that "he was ready to restart something from Brussels, and it's maybe the reality," Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said.

Reynders gave credence to the suspect's claim because "we found a lot of weapons, heavy weapons in the first investigations, and we have seen a new network of people around him in Brussels."

Abdeslam, captured Friday in a police raid in Brussels, was charged Saturday with "terrorist murder" by Belgian authorities. He is a top suspect in the November 13 attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead.

Speaking to security experts at a German Marshall Fund conference in Brussels, the foreign minister said "we have found more than 30 people involved in the terrorist attacks in Paris, but we are sure that there are others."

Reynders urged European intelligence, law enforcement, and border authorities to exchange more information to help track the suspects down.