Terror suspect ‘convicted last year with Paris attacks ringleader Abaaoud’

A terror suspect arrested near Paris was convicted in Belgium in July along with Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the ringleader of the November 13 attacks on the French capital. Reda Kriket was found guilty in absentia in Brussels of being part of a jihadist network planning to go to Syria, police sources said. He was arrested in Argenteuil, north-west of Paris, late on Thursday with a small quantity of explosives. Police suspect Kriket, who had been on their wanted list since January, was planning an attack on the French capital.

He belongs to a terrorist network that sought to strike our country.

French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve

French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Kriket was suspected of “being involved in the plan at a high level.” He added that the suspect had been under surveillance “for several weeks” and that the arrest was also the result of “close and constant cooperation between European services”. However, he said there was no tangible evidence of a link between the latest plot and the November attack in Paris or Tuesday’s bombings in Brussels, which killed 31 people. Abaaoud, 28, was killed in a shoot-out with police days after the Paris attacks.

Abaaoud