THE FIRST IMAGES of the man suspected of masterminding the logistics for last November’s deadly attacks in Paris have emerged.
French news channel BFMTV last night released CCTV footage of Salah Abdeslam at a petrol station near the Belgian border the day after the attacks which killed 130 people.
The images show Abdeslam looking relaxed as he and another man walk across the forecourt.
A third man puts petrol in their car as they enter the shop.
Abdeslam fled to Brussels after the attacks, calling two friends, Mohammed Amri and Salah Hamza Attou, to come collect him.
BFM reports that by the time the men had reached the petrol station, they had passed through three police checkpoints as Abdeslam had not yet been connected to the attacks.
Last week, Belgian investigators said that they had found a flat they believe was used by Abdeslam after the attacks.
One of Abdeslam’s fingerprints, three hand-made belts for possible use in suicide attacks and traces of explosives were discovered during a search in December of the apartment in the Schaerbeek area, they said.
Prosecutors said Abdeslam might have hidden in the flat after the 13 November attacks, but that they were also working on the theory that the explosive devices used in the massacre could have been made there.
In early December, Belgian prosecutors said they were looking for two “armed and dangerous” men who used false ID papers to help Abdeslam travel to Hungary in September where he was stopped – but then let go – by police.
Investigators continue to search for the 26-year-old, with AFP citing a source close to the investigation as saying “there’s still a lot of work to do”.
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