22-11-2024 12:06 PM Jerusalem Timing

Two Suspects Arrested in Belgium over Paris Attacks

Two Suspects Arrested in Belgium over Paris Attacks

Two men were detained for questioning in the Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek during police raids in the last two days linked to the deadly Paris attacks.

French policeTwo men were detained for questioning in the Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek during police raids in the last two days linked to the deadly Paris attacks, prosecutors said Thursday.

The investigating magistrate will decide later Thursday whether there is enough evidence to continue holding the pair or release them, the federal prosecutor's office said in a statement.

"Both were arrested due to their possible ties with different suspects in this case," it said, referring to the November 13 attacks when men armed with automatic weapons and suicide bombs killed 130 people and wounded many more across Paris.

The suspects were identified as Belgian national Zakaria J., who was born in 1986, and Moroccan national Mustafa E., who was born in 1981.

Neither weapons nor explosives were found in the raids Wednesday and Thursday in Molenbeek, the impoverished immigrant neighborhood where a number of militants have stayed over the last two decades.

Last week the authorities announced that Belgian police have identified three safe houses used by key suspects including presumed ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Molenbeek resident who was killed in a French police raid days after the Paris attacks.

The Belgian authorities have formally charged 10 people in the case, including a number from Molenbeek.

Four suspects remain at large, including Salah Abdeslam who allegedly drove suicide bombers to the French national stadium outside Paris, as well as Mohamed Abrini, suspected of having helped scout out the attack sites. Both are from Molenbeek.