German police hunt Paris terrorist in Hannover area
Cops swoop on Minden-Luebbecke following tip-off of address where Salah Abdeslam said to be hiding
Police in northwestern Germany said they were investigating a tip received from a member of the public that a suspect wanted in the Paris terror attacks may be hiding out in a rural area near Hannover.
Bielefeld police said Tuesday that they had been given a specific address in the nearby area where Salah Abdeslam was alleged to have been hiding, but so far after “an intensive investigation” have not found any sign that he had been there.
Abdeslam is known to have crossed into Belgium after the November 13 Paris attacks and is the subject of a massive manhunt.
Several of the Paris attackers had lived in Brussels, including Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the plot’s orchestrator who was killed Wednesday in a standoff with French police.
Investigators are working around the clock to track Brussels resident Abdeslam, one of the gunmen still on the loose after a coordinated wave of attacks on Parisian nightspots that left 130 people dead.
Abdeslam, whose brother Brahim blew himself up outside a Paris bar during the attacks, may be equipped with a suicide belt, according to Hamza Attou, one of two suspects charged by Belgian authorities for allegedly helping Abdeslam return to Belgium after the attacks.