Suspected Brussels terrorist arrested in France

Mehdi Nemmouche, 29, detained in Marseille on suspicion of murder and attempted murder • He is believed to have ties to Islamic radicals in Syria and had in his possession a Kalashnikov rifle and handgun similar to the ones used in the May 24 attack.

Eli Leon, Israel Hayom Staff and News Agencies

Screenshot of the shooter firing his gun | Photo credit: AP

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A French national with suspected ties to Islamic radicals in Syria was arrested in France on Friday over last Saturday's deadly shooting attack at the Jewish Museum in Brussels, investigation sources told Agence France-Presse.

Credit: Reuters

The suspect, 29-year-old Mehdi Nemmouche, was in the southern French city of Marseille in possession of a Kalashnikov rifle and a handgun similar to the ones used in the attack on May 24, the sources said on Sunday. He was arrested during a customs inspection at a train and bus station in the port city.

He has been detained on suspicion of murder and attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise, a judicial source told AFP.

An official with the Paris prosecutor's office said the suspect has been handed to anti-terrorist investigators and could be held at least through Tuesday under French counterterrorism law.

Belgian investigators had reportedly reconstructed the escape route used by the shooter, which could have led to tracking the suspect to Marseille. Nemmouche alllegedly arrived in Marseille on a bus from Amsterdam that had stopped in Brussels, said the prosecutor's office official, who would not provide further information and was not authorized to be publicly named when speaking of ongoing investigations.

The Paris prosecutor was expected to give a news conference on the matter later Sunday.

A French police source said Nemmouche had been in jail in 2012 and French media reported that he was suspected of having stayed in Syria with jihadist groups in 2013.

Meanwhile, schools in Brussels held a minute of silence on Friday to commemorate those killed in the attack.

Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur called on students to reject hatred, "which undermines the ability of democracy to protect us."

Belgium's Federal Prosecutor's Office said last Monday that the fatal shooting likely had a terrorist motive.

Police released a 30-second video clip from the museum's security cameras showing a man wearing a dark cap, sunglasses and a blue jacket enter the building, take a Kalashnikov rifle out of a bag, and shoot into a room, before calmly walking out.

Spokesperson Wenke Roggen said the incident was likely a terrorist attack, because the perpetrator seemed well-prepared and had chosen the Jewish Museum for his location to kill people.

"The analysis of the first images seems cold-blooded and apparently determined. It took less than 90 seconds. This combined with the fact that the shots were fired inside the Jewish Museum makes us believe that the crimes were committed with a terrorist motive," Roggen told a news conference.