Breaking: Salah Abdelsalam Arrested In Brussels

 

546482022-1From a Belgian English-language paper, the missing terrorist from the Paris Attacks has been captured alive:

Salah Abdeslam, one of the most wanted terrorist suspects in Europe, was arrested during a special police operation in the Brussels borough of Molenbeek. This happened Friday around 5PM. Salah Abdeslam sustained a leg injury in the operation, but has been caught alive, local police confirmed to the VRT. A second suspect was also apprehended. He also sustained a leg wound. This man’s identity has not been revealed yet. There were talks of 4 different house raids, but the main operation took place in the Vierwindenstraat in Molenbeek. The raid started around 5PM and was finished around 6PM.

Journalists in the area said police were using so-called flash grenades in an attempt to get inside. This type of grenade is also known as a sound bomb or flashbang. It can give police troops an advantage over people hiding inside a house, and allow them to enter and arrest the suspects.

The operation eventually took about one hour only. Salah Abdeslam was apprehended alive. Police were hot on his heels the past days, after raiding a house in Vorst on Tuesday, where his fingerprints were discovered on a glass. Abdeslam, public enemy number 1 in Europe, was shot in the leg and taken to hospital. Another suspect was also arrested, he also sustained a shot wound in the leg.

Abdelsalam, a Belgian citizen, was one of the key figures in the Paris Attacks and one of only two suspected survivors of it and the police raids that followed. Besides handling much of the groups’ logistics, he personally transported many of the attackers from the Middle East to Europe, and rented apartments and vehicles used in the attacks under his own name. His brother was also one of the attackers and blew himself up during one of the attacks. A suicide belt believed to have been Abdelsalam’s was found undetonated in the 18th arrondissement; there were also reports that he wired money to Abaaoud before the latter’s apartment was raided.

UPDATE:

From the NYT:

The raid on Tuesday was not an attempt to capture Mr. Abdeslam. The authorities had targeted the home, on the Rue du Dries in the Forest section of Brussels, as part of an effort to collect additional intelligence. Over the past four months, the French and Belgian police have raided dozens of buildings, scooped up troves of documents and questioned scores of suspects as part of their investigation.

The French and Belgian officers who conducted the raid were surprised to find the residence occupied. They immediately came under fire, and in the ensuing gunfight, a 35-year-old man named Mohamed Belkaid was killed, while two other people escaped. Four police officers were slightly wounded.

It was the second time the authorities had found Mr. Abdeslam’s fingerprints in an apartment in Brussels; in December his fingerprints were found in an apartment in the Schaerbeek section of Brussels, along with material that might have been used to make suicide belts.

Published in Islamist Terrorism
Like this post? Want to comment? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

There are 21 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. tigerlily Member
    tigerlily
    @tigerlily

    Good!

    • #1
  2. Tom Meyer, Ed. Member
    Tom Meyer, Ed.
    @tommeyer

    A little good news is always appreciated. Between him and the material they found with him, they’ll likely learn a lot about ISIS. Hope it gets used.

    • #2
  3. BD Member
    BD
    @

    I hope he wasn’t using an IPhone.

    • #3
  4. Tom Meyer, Ed. Member
    Tom Meyer, Ed.
    @tommeyer

    BD:I hope he wasn’t using an IPhone.

    Or locking a door.

    • #4
  5. Roberto Inactive
    Roberto
    @Roberto

    One down, a few thousand to go.

    • #5
  6. Marion Evans Inactive
    Marion Evans
    @MarionEvans

    Looks like Salah will be in the Abdeslammer for life.

    • #6
  7. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    Very good news – I’m sure the French will deal with him in a more appropriate way than our administration…..

    • #7
  8. JimGoneWild Coolidge
    JimGoneWild
    @JimGoneWild

    The police need more firearms practice–the leg is nowhere near the head or chest.

    • #8
  9. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    JimGoneWild:The police need more firearms practice–the leg is nowhere near the head or chest.

    My thoughts exactly.  How is it he lived through the raid?

    • #9
  10. Claire Berlinski, Ed. Member
    Claire Berlinski, Ed.
    @Claire

    Randy Webster:

    JimGoneWild:The police need more firearms practice–the leg is nowhere near the head or chest.

    My thoughts exactly. How is it he lived through the raid?

    He’s supposed to live through the raid. His value alive, as a source of intelligence, is far greater than his value dead, as a source of satisfaction.

    • #10
  11. Pilgrim Coolidge
    Pilgrim
    @Pilgrim

    Claire Berlinski, Ed.: e’s supposed to live through the raid. His value alive, as a source of intelligence, is far greater than his value dead, as a source of satisfaction.

    Be interesting to see how much intelligence the Belgians are able to get with all those techniques that work better than a wet washcloth over the face.

    • #11
  12. Claire Berlinski, Ed. Member
    Claire Berlinski, Ed.
    @Claire

    Pilgrim:

    Claire Berlinski, Ed.: e’s supposed to live through the raid. His value alive, as a source of intelligence, is far greater than his value dead, as a source of satisfaction.

    Be interesting to see how much intelligence the Belgians are able to get with all those techniques that work better than a wet washcloth over the face.

    France is seeking extradition and will, I assume, be in custody of him soon. A French judge placed him under a European arrest warrant on November 24, which means he can be extradited quickly. (A standard international arrest warrant entails a much more cumbersome extradition process.)

    • #12
  13. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    Do the French have our misgivings about the use of things such as waterboarding?

    • #13
  14. Claire Berlinski, Ed. Member
    Claire Berlinski, Ed.
    @Claire

    Randy Webster:Do the French have our misgivings about the use of things such as waterboarding?

    They were quite well-known for it in Algeria, and many suspect they have been quite proficient things “such as that” elsewhere. 

    • #14
  15. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    Claire Berlinski, Ed.:

    Randy Webster:Do the French have our misgivings about the use of things such as waterboarding?

    They were quite well-known for it in Algeria…

    They were excellent at it in Algeria, but by itself it wasn’t enough – Algeria still ended up a disaster for all concerned.

    I don’t know if that’s relevant to the current situation, but it might be.

    • #15
  16. Tom Meyer, Ed. Member
    Tom Meyer, Ed.
    @tommeyer

    Pilgrim:

    Be interesting to see how much intelligence the Belgians are able to get with all those techniques that work better than a wet washcloth over the face.

    Two thoughts:

    1. Police and intelligence sources have tons of ways of extracting information out of uncooperative terrorists and criminals short of torture-lite, enhanced interrogation, or whatever we’re calling waterboarding these days.
    2. We’re not dealing with some battle-hardened tough guy here: Abdelsalam is a petty criminal and drug dealer who’s lived his entire life in Belgium before deciding to help murder defenseless people in the name of Jihad. I don’t know it for a fact, but my guess is that this guy will be pretty easy to break.
    • #16
  17. Claire Berlinski, Ed. Member
    Claire Berlinski, Ed.
    @Claire

    He’s reportedly cooperating already.

    • #17
  18. Ray Kujawa Coolidge
    Ray Kujawa
    @RayKujawa

    Intelligence or no, it is demoralizing to the opposition to see one who was not willing to die for their cause. I think it presents a brighter picture for our side.

    • #18
  19. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    And the “Peaceful Majority”….
    Riot…

    “Violence Breaks Out in Molenbeek After Paris Suspect’s Arrest,” by Abigail R. Esman, Investigative Project, March 18, 2016 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

    The most wanted terrorist in Europe, considered the mastermind in November’s multi-targeted attack in Paris that left 130 people dead, was arrested Friday by Belgian authorities.

    But residents in the Molenbeek district of Brussels, where Saleh Abdeslam was captured, didn’t breathe a sigh of relief. Within hours, the district, which has a majority Muslim population, erupted into riots. Dozens of Abdeslam’s fans attacked police with bottles, stones, and other objects, local press reported, angered by the arrest of their “hero.”

    The situation is developing.

    • #19
  20. BalticSnowTiger Member
    BalticSnowTiger
    @BalticSnowTiger

    BD:I hope he wasn’t using an IPhone.

    Germans and French would crack it.

    • #20
  21. BalticSnowTiger Member
    BalticSnowTiger
    @BalticSnowTiger

    Pilgrim:

    Claire Berlinski, Ed.: e’s supposed to live through the raid. His value alive, as a source of intelligence, is far greater than his value dead, as a source of satisfaction.

    Be interesting to see how much intelligence the Belgians are able to get with all those techniques that work better than a wet washcloth over the face.

    The inquiry has non belge supervision.

    • #21
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.