Belgium To Extradite Paris Attack Suspect To France

Brussels: Belgian authorities have approved the extradition of the sole surviving suspect in the November 2015 attacks in Paris, Salah Abdeslam to France, as officials at the bomb-damaged Brussels airport said it was ready to re-open although flights would not resume immediately.

Abdeslam was arrested on March 18 after four months on the run as Europe's most wanted man. Four days after his arrest, the Belgian capital was struck by terrorist bombings at the airport and a metro station carried out by suicide attackers with links to Abdeslam and the Paris attacks cell.

French justice minister Jean-Jacques Urvoas said that Abdeslam’s transfer to France should happen “within 10 days”.Cedric Moisse, lawyer of Abdeslam, said: “What Salah Abdeslam wants to make known is that he wants to cooperate with the French authorities. These are the words he wants to make known”.

Abdeslam's arrest was considered a rare success in Belgium's anti-terror fight, although he was found within a short distance of his family home in the Molenbeek district of the capital. He has refused to talk since the Brussels bombings.

Brussels airport, closed since its departure hall, was wrecked in the attacks. Airport authorities said it had received the go-ahead from fire services and the Belgian Civil Aviation Authority “for a partial restart of passenger flights.”

Belgian-born French citizen Abdeslam has connections to at least two of the Brussels bombers. Khalid El Bakraoui, who blew himself up at the metro, rented a flat in Brussels where Abdeslam's fingerprints were found.