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Belgium postpones trial of Paris attacks suspect to February

Salah Abdeslam, detained in France for his suspected role in the November 13th 2015 Paris terrorist attacks which left 130 people dead and hundreds more wounded, was due to stand trial this week in Brussels in a separate case in whicjh he is charged with the attempted murder of Belgian police officers.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

A Belgian court has delayed until February the trial of Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shooting in Brussels that led to his capture, reports RTÉ.

Mr Abdeslam, the sole surviving suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks which left 130 people dead, had been due to face trial in the Belgian capital this week.

But following an application last week by Mr Abdeslam's lawyer Sven Mary, the court this morning ruled the trial would start on Monday  February 5th and run until the Friday, with Wednesday as a rest day.

Mr Abdeslam and Sofian Ayari, also implicated in the shootout, face charges of "attempting to murder several police officers in a terrorist context" and "carrying prohibited weapons in a terrorist context".

Both men were captured days after the March 15th 2016 shootout, ending a four-month manhunt for Mr Abdeslam for his alleged role in the Paris attacks.

The 28-year-old is linked to the same cell that carried out suicide bombings in Brussels a week after the gun battle.

Thirty-two people were killed at Brussels airport and a metro station near the EU's headquarters.

Read more of this report from RTÉ.

See also: The covert operations behind Islamic State's terror campaign in Europe