Armed police on patrol as ISIS ‘bomber’ Mohamed Abrini appears in court over the Paris and Brussels massacres
Suspected Paris and Brussels accomplice was denied his attempt to avoid being extradited to France
Soldiers armed with assault rifles patrolled Brussels' appeals court today during a hearing for Paris attacks suspect Mohamed Abrini.
Officers wearing ski masks and heavily armed soldiers guarded his transport while sections of the building were cordoned off to the public.
Abrini was denied his attempt to avoid extradition to France, where he is suspected of involvement in the November 13 attacks that killed 130 people.
The Belgian appeals court upheld a judge's ruling that he can be extradited to France to face justice there.
However, prosecutors say the 31-year-old won't be sent away soon - they are still investigating him for links to the Brussels attacks on March 22.
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Some 32 people were killed when bombers detonated explosives at a metro station and the city's airport that morning.
In separate proceedings, a judge ordered to extend the custody of Abrini, his 20-year-old brother Ibrahim Abrini and four others after they were detained in Belgium in connection with the Paris attacks.
Responsibility for the Paris carnage and Brussels bombings was claimed by ISIS.
- Three terror suspects accused of meeting Abrini in Birmingham months before the attacks in Paris and Brussels will face trial. Mohammed Ali Ahmed, 26, plus brother and sister Zakaria Boufassil, 26, and Soumaya Boufassil, 29, appeared in the Old Bailey. They are charged with planning to travel to Syria and fund terrorism after allegedly handing £3,000 to Abrini at the meeting in a park. All three were arrested in Birmingham last month and questioned by West Midlands anti-terror squad detectives.
