Brussels bomber Abrini charged over Paris attacks: lawyers

A combo picture showing Mohamed Abrini and a screengrab of CCTV footage showing the "man in the hat" bomber from the Brussels Airport attacks. PHOTO: AFP

PARIS (AFP) - Mohamed Abrini, the "man in the hat" bombing suspect caught on camera during the Brussels airport attack, has been charged in France over the November 2015 terrorist massacres in Paris, his lawyers said on Monday (Jan 30).

Belgium handed Abrini over to the French authorities on Monday for a day so that he could face charges related to the deaths of 130 people in the French capital.

Abrini was captured in Brussels in April over his suspected involvement in the March 22 Brussels attacks and the Paris killings, both of which were claimed by the Islamic State group (ISIS).

Belgian investigators have said the Brussels airport and metro bombers who killed a total of 32 people were part of the same Brussels-based cell that orchestrated the Paris attacks.

The main suspect in the Paris attacks is Salah Abdeslam, a Belgian-born French national believed to be the only survivor of the terrorist team behind the carnage.

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