A prime suspect in the Paris terrorist attacks has escaped
police for a third time, it has emerged.
Belgian prosecutors said today that Salah Abdeslam's
fingerprints were found at the scene of a police raid on a Brussels flat, which
took place on Tuesday.
There are reports that Abdeslam, whose brother blew himself
up during the slaughter in Paris in November, was one of the suspects who went
on the run after a shootout during the raid.
Referring to the police operation, in which one Islamic
gunman was shot dead by a police sniper, Belgian public broadcaster RTBF said
today: 'According to our information, it is more than likely that he is one of
the two individuals who escaped during the shootout.'
This is not the first time Abdeslam has evaded police.
It is believed he stayed in Schaerbeek, Belgium, for some weeks following the attacks in the
French capital which killed 130 people and wounded 352 on November 13.
Surveillance footage at a petrol station showed him
returning by car to Belgium a day after the attacks.
He also avoided capture when French police checked his
papers shortly before he was listed as wanted. Authorities have been searching
for him ever since.
If true, the latest near miss would be the closest police
had come to capturing the suspected terrorist.
Abdeslam is suspected of helping to equip the gunmen and
suicide bombers who targeted bars, restaurants and a music hall in Paris and
may have taken part himself.
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