Advertisement

Paris attacks: International manhunt underway for 2nd fugitive involved in attacks

French officials say they are seeking a second fugitive directly involved in the Paris attacks.

Three officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to provide details about the ongoing investigation, said an analysis of the series of attacks on Nov. 13 indicated that one person directly involved was unaccounted for.

Seven attackers died that night — three around the national stadium, three inside the Bataclan concert venue, and one at a restaurant nearby. A team of gunmen also opened fire at a series of nightspots in one of Paris’ trendiest neighborhoods.

French and Belgian authorities have issued a warrant for one person, Salah Abdeslam, whose brother was among the attackers. The officials say the second fugitive has not been identified.

WATCH: Mohamad Abdeslam, one of the brothers of a dead suicide bomber in the Paris attacks, said on Monday neither he or his family could have imagined that they were involved with the attacks in Paris on Friday evening.

The brother of Salah Abdeslam is calling for him to turn himself in.

Story continues below advertisement

Mohamed Abdeslam, who spoke to French TV BFM Tuesday, says his brother was devout but showed no signs of being a radical Islamist.

Breaking news from Canada and around the world sent to your email, as it happens.

Abdeslam said: “Of course I call on him to turn himself over to the police. The best would be for him to give himself up so that justice can shed all the light on this.”

Mohamed was arrested and questioned following the attack and was released Monday. He says his brother prayed and attended a mosque occasionally but dressed in jeans and pullovers and showed no signs of being a radical.

Full coverage: The terrorist attacks in Paris

Lawyers for two suspects behind bars in Belgium say their clients acknowledge going to France early Saturday and picking up third man who is now the target of an international manhunt.

Both men are being held on charges of terrorist murder and conspiracy.

Defense lawyer Xavier Carrette says Mohammed Amri, 27, denies any involvement in the attacks and says he went to Paris early Saturday to pick up a friend, 24-year-old Salah Abdeslam. Carrette says the only thing Amri admits “is having been in France to pick up a friend.”

Story continues below advertisement

READ MORE: ‘We are all in the same boat’ says French-born Muslim after two sisters gunned down by ISIS attack

Carine Couquelet, who represents Hamza Attou, 21, says Amri drove his own car and that her client went along to keep Amri company. Couquelet says that around 4 a.m. Saturday, the pair picked up Abdeslam and they then returned to Brussels.

Belgian media say Amri and Attou are being investigated as potential suppliers of the suicide bombs used in Friday’s attacks, since ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer that can be used to make explosives, was discovered in a search of their residence.

The defense lawyers said they could not confirm those reports.

Salah Abdeslam’s brother, Brahim, was among the suicide bombers in Paris.

 

Sponsored content

AdChoices