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Two Belgian police officers guard the Grand Place on 27 November. Associated Press

Paris attacks: Two new suspects charged in Belgium

It brings to eight the number of people authorities are holding.

BELGIUM HAS CHARGED two new suspects in connection with the Paris massacre last month, bringing to eight the number of people it is holding in the case.

“Two other suspects have been charged… in the framework of the Paris attacks,” a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office told AFP, confirming reports that the two had been arrested on Sunday.

Flemish public television VRT said one of the suspects knew Bilal Hadfi, one of the suicide bombers who blew himself up at the French national stadium north of Paris.

The suspect, a 20-year-old Frenchman, was held for questioning at Zaventem airport, northwest of Brussels, as he prepared to board a flight to Morocco, the broadcaster said.

The second suspect, a 28-year-old Belgian, was arrested in the Brussels district of Molenbeek, where several of the Paris attackers resided, including suspected ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud who was killed in a raid by French police.

Eight suspects

Since the investigation opened, six other suspects have been charged in connection with the 13 November attacks that left 130 people dead at the stadium, in a concert hall as well as restaurants and cafes across the French capital.

Among those held are Mohammed Amri and Hamza Attou who are suspected of having brought back to Brussels Salah Abdeslam, who investigators think played a vital logistical role in the massacre.

Another of those charged, Ali Oulkadi, allegedly drove the key suspects around the Belgian capital while traces of blood and two handguns were found inside a vehicle of a fourth suspect, Lazez Abraimi.

The identity of the fifth suspect has not been revealed but Belgian media said it is Abdeilah Chouaa, whose link with the attacks remains unknown.

Belgian media have named the sixth suspect as Mohamed Bakkali, who is believed to be the owner of a home in the southern town of Auvelais that had served as a hideout until it was raided on 26 November.

He was charged the following day “with terrorist murder and with participating in the activities of a terrorist group”.

Meanwhile two other people who were questioned as witnesses following raids in Brussels were released by police today.

© AFP 2015

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    Mute west awake
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    Apr 21st 2023, 10:29 PM

    The Free State army was far more savage and brutal than the Black and Tans.

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    Mute Leonard Barry
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    Apr 21st 2023, 11:30 PM

    @west awake: There was brutality and horrendous acts committed by both sides.

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    Apr 21st 2023, 11:46 PM

    @Leonard Barry: ‘Bothsidesing’ doesn’t really work here, the cold-blooded atrocities of the Free State forces had no equivalent on the rebel side. Tying prisoners to trees and blowing them up, knocking prisoners teeth out with hammers, and other unspeakable tortures was something the rebel forces never did.

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    Mute Max Headroom
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    Apr 22nd 2023, 8:45 AM

    Least we forget, many who committed such atrocities were awarded medals, life pensions and went straight into top government positions as soon as war was over

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    Mute AnthonyK
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    Apr 22nd 2023, 8:48 AM

    I believe also the Free State hung more republicans than the British side ever did. Didn’t the AG of the day tell cabinet that executing people with little or no evidence was acceptable. And cabinet agreed.

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    Mute Ger Huet
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    Apr 22nd 2023, 9:34 AM

    @AnthonyK: hanged

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    Mute Ger Huet
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    Apr 22nd 2023, 9:46 AM

    It seems throughout history and across this planet that civil wars are the least civil of wars. Witness the US, Spain, Russia and so forth.

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    Mute ggg
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    Apr 22nd 2023, 11:26 AM

    Looking forward to this. It will be really interesting to see if RTE grew a pair and speak of government forces executing Irish men without trial. I expect fine gael insiders won’t allow it so let’s see if RTE have b**ls

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    Apr 22nd 2023, 1:59 PM

    @ggg: Simon Coveney’s brother is a top man in RTE, so you won’t hear much against Fine Gael from that place.

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    Mute Garreth Byrne
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    Apr 22nd 2023, 12:34 PM

    Government health warning: pub arguments about civil war history can damage your health.

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    Mute Ed Brennan
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    Apr 22nd 2023, 10:00 AM

    The truth is something that should always be welcome, and it’s good to see that we are mature enough as a nation to understand this. There are so many other countries who have tried, and are still trying, to deny the darker parts of their history, a major example being the ‘red- brown’ deniers of eastern Europe.

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    Mute AnthonyK
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    Apr 22nd 2023, 1:05 PM

    @Ger Huet – hunged, so.

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