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Belgian police moved Europe’s most wanted man from hospital to a high-security jail on Saturday, where he will face questions about the Paris attacks and likely charges, a day after his arrest in a Brussels shootout. Salah Abdeslam, 26, the first person suspected to have played an active part in attacks in Paris to have been taken alive, was held in a Brussels hospital after being shot in the leg during Friday’s police raid near his parents’ home.
He and a second man, identified as Monir Ahmed Alaaj, are expected to appear before a magistrate, who should outline the charges they face and authorize their detention for five days.
Belgian and French prosecutors were also discussing on Saturday how to proceed with the investigation.
Security services will be seeking information from Abdeslam on Islamic State plans and structures, his contacts in Europe and Syria and support networks and finance. Over the past four months, France and Belgium have detained several people linked to the prime suspects but none they suspect of a major role.
French President Francois Hollande, who had been visiting Brussels for a European summit when Friday’s drama unfolded, has said France would seek extradition for the Brussels-based Frenchman. Abdeslam was, Hollande said, definitely in Paris on the bloody night of Friday, Nov. 13 when 130 people were killed.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel summoned security and intelligence chiefs to an emergency sitting of Belgium’s national security council, for the second time in four days.
