Morocco holds Belgian citizen ‘linked to Paris attacks’
Local newspaper quotes interior ministry as saying suspect JA went to Turkey, then Germany and Belgium before returning.
A Belgian national of Moroccan origin directly linked to the Paris attacks has been arrested in Morocco, according to a local newspaper report quoting Morocco’s interior ministry.
Hespress reported on Monday that a Belgian national had been arrested in al-Muhammadia port city on the west coast of Morocco, between Casablanca and Rabat, in the region of Casablanca-Settat.
Quoting a ministry statement, Hespress said that the suspect was arrested four days ago and is a Belgian national of Moroccan origin who is directly linked to the Paris attacks.
The ministry has identified him by his first two initials: JA.
They said JA went to Turkey, then Germany and Belgium before coming to Morocco from the Netherlands.
Multiple attacks on November 13, 2015, in Paris left at least 130 people dead, in what French President Francois Hollande said was an “act of war” organised by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.
Four attackers killed at least 80 young people attending a rock concert at the Bataclan music hall, city hall officials said.
Heavily armed policemen eventually launched an assault on the building.
About 40 more people were killed in five other attacks in the Paris area, including an apparent triple suicide bombing outside the national stadium, Stade de France.
The coordinated attacks came as France, a member of the US-led coalition waging air strikes against ISIL fighters in Syria and Iraq, was on high alert for attacks.
Belgium has arrested 11 people so far on suspicion of involvement in the Paris attacks.