A Belgian man on trial over a foiled jihadist plot tells a court on Tuesday that he obeyed detailed orders from Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the late ringleader of the deadly Paris attacks.
Mohamed Arshad, 27, says he acted on instructions from Abaaoud to buy walkie-talkies and ingredients for explosives, rented two vehicles and a flat in the town of Verviers, purchased furniture and worked to obtain false papers.
Arshad is one of seven men who went on trial in Brussels on Monday accused of belonging to a cell plotting to kill Belgian police officers, which was dismantled in a deadly raid in Verviers in January 2015.
“It was not very well thought out. I did what was asked of me,” Arshad says in a deposition to the court, adding that Abaaoud had put “pressure” on him during calls the latter made from Turkey.
Abaaoud was killed in a French police raid days after the November 13 Paris gun and bombing attacks in which he allegedly played the role of ringleader. He also had close links to the cell behind the March 22 Brussels airport and metro attacks.
— AFP
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