Two More Suspects Charged in Connection with Paris Attacks in Belgium

The Belgian prosecutor's office announced on Thursday the charging of two more suspects in connection with the deadly Paris attacks. One of the suspects is a French national and the other is Belgian, both of whom were arrested on Sunday of this week. According to a report on Thursday, December 3, by Reuters, the Belgian federal prosecutor's office stated in a statement that one of the suspects, Samir Z., a French citizen born in 1995, was arrested on Sunday at Zaventem Airport in Belgium while boarding a flight to Morocco. The Belgian prosecutor's office indicated that this French national is suspected of attempting to travel to Syria twice in 2015 and is believed to be connected to Bilal Hadfi, one of the perpetrators of the bombings in France who resided in Belgium. The other suspect, Pierre N., a Belgian citizen born in 1987, has been in custody since Sunday in connection with the Paris attacks and was arrested during a house search on Sunday morning. This Belgian national resides in the Molenbeek neighborhood in western Brussels, and no further details have been provided regarding the reasons for his arrest. According to the report, both detainees appeared in court on Thursday, and their detention has been extended for at least one month. Reuters reminded that with the arrest of these two individuals this week, the number of those detained in connection with the Paris attacks in Belgium has reached eight. Previously, Belgian authorities had charged six others named Mohammed Amri, Hamza Attou, Ali El Haddad, Laziz Ibrahim, Abdullah Shaa, and Mohammed Bakkali in connection with the Paris attacks, particularly for aiding and hiding Salah Abdeslam, the key suspect in these attacks. On Thursday, in another development related to the Paris attacks, the Hungarian Prime Minister announced that one of the planners of these deadly attacks had passed through the country. Reuters quoted Janos Lazar, spokesman for the Hungarian Prime Minister's office, stating that one of the main planners of the Paris attacks left the country via the eastern railway station in Budapest. However, this official did not mention the name of the suspect or when he was present in Budapest. He only noted that he confirms "based on information obtained so far by the security services of this country, one of the main planners of the Paris attacks was present in Budapest."