Belgian Officials: Brussels Attacks Suspect Says He's The 'Man In The Hat'
BRUSSELS (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Belgian prosecutors have charged four more suspects with "participating in terrorist acts'' linked to the deadly suicide bombings in Brussels, CBS2's John Vigliotti reports.
The Belgium's Federal Prosecution Office says Saturday that Mohamed Abrini, Osama K., Herve B. M. and Bilal E. M. were all charged with participating in "terrorist murders'' and the "activities of a terrorist group'' in relation to the March 22 bombings in Brussels' airport and subway. The attacks killed 32 people and wounded 270 others.
Abrini, 31, is also believed to be the mysterious "man in the hat" who escaped the double bombing at the Zaventem airport, according to one of the French officials. If true, that would mean Abrini had a key role in both attacks carried out by the Islamic State cell that left a total of 162 people dead — 130 in Paris and 32 in Brussels.
The Federal Prosecution Office in Brussels says it can confirm that arrested terror suspect Mohamed Abrini was the third man present at Brussels Airport during the March 22 suicide bombings there. The prosecutor's office said Saturday that Abrini "confessed his presence at the crime scene'' after being confronted by investigators.
Abrini was the last identified suspect still at large from the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris which killed 130 people, although his precise role has never been clear. He is a Belgian-Moroccan petty criminal believed to have traveled early last summer to Syria where his younger brother died in 2014 in ISIS' notorious francophone brigade.
He has not resurfaced since the emergence of surveillance video placing him in the convoy with the attackers headed to Paris, which led to his arrest on Friday. He had ties to Abdelhamid Abbaoud, the ringleader of the Paris attacks who died in a police standoff on Nov. 18, and is a childhood friend of brothers Salah and Brahim Abdeslam.
The statement says two other suspects arrested in the last few days have been released.
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