Brussels bombing suspect charged over Paris attacks

Brussels, Jan 30 (IANS) Mohamed Abrini, the suspected "man in the hat" bomber caught on camera during the Brussels airport attack last year, has been charged in France over the November 2015 Paris terror attacks, the media reported.

According to a BBC report on Monday, Abrini was handed over to French authorities by Belgium for questioning about the Paris attacks that left 130 dead, Belgian federal prosecutors said in a statement.

He was detained last April for his suspected involvement in the March 22 Brussels attacks, which killed 32 people, and the Paris killings, both of which were claimed by the Islamic State militant group.

"In the framework of the investigation related to the attacks in Paris on November 13, 2015, Mohamed Abrini was surrendered to the French judicial authorities for a period of one day," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Abrini was spotted in a car with key Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam when it stopped at a petrol station in Ressons two days before the attacks on the French capital.

His fingerprints and DNA were found in two "safe houses" in Brussels, as well as in a car used during the Paris attacks.

Following his arrest, he also admitted picking up Salah Abdeslam after the attacks and driving him back to Belgium.

Mohamed Abrini was driven to Paris from Belgium in a heavily-armed convoy so the case against him could be formally launched, BFMTV reported.