New footage shows alleged Paris terrorist hours after attack
Salah Abdeslam seen calmly buying snacks at a gas station convenience store just after shootings, bombing in French capital
Salah Abdeslam, the fugitive alleged mastermind behind the November 2015 Paris terror attacks, is seen calmly shopping at a gas station convenience store hours after the deadly shootings and bombings rocked the French capital, newly released security camera footage shows.
Images aired by France’s BFM TV show Abdeslam and two associates, Hamza Attou and Mohammed Amri, unhurriedly getting gas and buying food near the France-Belgium border at 9:45 a.m. on November 14. Abdeslam was not wanted by police at the time, and made no attempt to hide or cover his face.
In the video, while Amri fills up the car with gas, Abdeslam and Attou peruse the store for snacks for almost 15 minutes.
Attou and fellow getaway accomplice Mohammed Amri were arrested by Belgian police in December, and admitted to driving Abdeslam back to Brussels from Paris, but denied any involvement in the attacks.
Attou’s lawyer at the time revealed the three smoked marijuana on the drive back to Belgium.
A source close to the investigation told AFP in December that Abdeslam and his friends had got through three police checks during their drive from Paris to Brussels.
An international manhunt has been underway for Belgian-born Abdeslam, 26, since suicide bombers and assailants firing automatic weapons killed 130 people and wounded many more in a wave of attacks across Paris.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the coordinated series of attacks on bars, restaurants, and a concert hall, in which the attackers were armed with guns and suicide belts. Seven died during the assault but the total number of those directly involved is still unclear.
In early December, Belgian prosecutors said they were looking for two “armed and dangerous” men who used false ID papers to help Abdeslam travel to Hungary in September where he was stopped — but then let go — by police.
Belgian authorities have arrested and charged a total of 10 people in connection with the attacks, including several with helping Abdeslam.