Spain on alert for suspected Belgian terrorist returned from Syria
Spanish authorities have issued an appeal for 23-year-old Soufiane Mezroui, who is thought to have entered Spain after a stint fighting in Syria.
Police have issued a nationwide alert for Mezroui, who was born in Belgium and has links to the Salafist jihadist organization Jabhat al-Nusra.
Este es Soufiane Mezroui, un presunto yihadista buscado por Bélgica Si puedes colaborar en su localización 062 pic.twitter.com/sjIw1YZwwL
— Guardia Civil (@guardiacivil) November 22, 2015
Spanish police were told on Friday that the suspect, who is wanted on European arrest warrant issued in Abril 2013, may be hiding out in Spain.
Mezroui from Kapelle, near Antwerp, is reported to have been sentenced in abstencia in an Antwerp court in February to five years in prison for being linked to terrorist group.
The police alert did not say whether he was suspected of being involved in the Paris attacks of November 13th in which 129 people were killed but said that "his presence in Spain could pose a threat to national security".
Europe's most-wanted man Salah Abdeslam remained on the run on Monday despite a wave of overnight raids in Brussels aimed at tracking down the key suspect in the Paris attacks.
Photo: Appeal issued by France's Police Nationale
Belgian police arrested 16 people in a wave of anti-terrorism raids but key Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam slipped the net, with Brussels set to remain under security lockdown on Monday.
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Police have issued a nationwide alert for Mezroui, who was born in Belgium and has links to the Salafist jihadist organization Jabhat al-Nusra.
Este es Soufiane Mezroui, un presunto yihadista buscado por Bélgica Si puedes colaborar en su localización 062 pic.twitter.com/sjIw1YZwwL
— Guardia Civil (@guardiacivil) November 22, 2015
Spanish police were told on Friday that the suspect, who is wanted on European arrest warrant issued in Abril 2013, may be hiding out in Spain.
Mezroui from Kapelle, near Antwerp, is reported to have been sentenced in abstencia in an Antwerp court in February to five years in prison for being linked to terrorist group.
The police alert did not say whether he was suspected of being involved in the Paris attacks of November 13th in which 129 people were killed but said that "his presence in Spain could pose a threat to national security".
Europe's most-wanted man Salah Abdeslam remained on the run on Monday despite a wave of overnight raids in Brussels aimed at tracking down the key suspect in the Paris attacks.
Photo: Appeal issued by France's Police Nationale
Belgian police arrested 16 people in a wave of anti-terrorism raids but key Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam slipped the net, with Brussels set to remain under security lockdown on Monday.
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