Advertisement

French hunt second fugitive

Getty

Getty

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

Three officials, who spoke to Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to provide details about the ongoing investigation, said on Tuesday that an analysis of the series of attacks on Friday night 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.

• French warplanes launch fresh strikes on IS stronghold in Syria
• Police investigate ‘suspicious package’ at train station
• Traces of explosives found in Russian plane wreckage

A team of gunmen also opened fire at a series of nightspots in one of Paris’s trendiest neighbourhoods.

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.

Meanwhile, a second brother of Salah Abdeslam on Tuesday urged the fugitive to surrender as police in France and Belgium stepped up their manhunt.

“I advise him to surrender to the police,” his brother Mohamed Abdeslam, who was himself arrested and freed without charge in Belgium, told France’s BFMTV news channel.

“The best thing would be for him to surrender so that the legal system can shed full light on the case.

“I remind you that Salah has never been able to tell his side of the story to the police and that he is therefore presumed innocent.”

Belgian police detained Mohamed Abdeslam on Saturday as part of a wave of arrests but he was freed without charge on Monday along with four other suspects.

Two further suspects were charged with involvement with terrorism.

“We are a family. We are thinking about him. We are wondering where he is, and if he is frightened, and if he is eating,” the brother said.

Mohamed Abdeslam told Belgium’s RTL television at his family home in Brussels on Monday that “he grew up here, studied here, he is a totally normal lad”.

Stay informed, daily
A FREE subscription to The New Daily arrives every morning and evening.
The New Daily is a trusted source of national news and information and is provided free for all Australians. Read our editorial charter
Copyright © 2024 The New Daily.
All rights reserved.