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Attacks suspect can be sent to Belgium, Italy court rules

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
Attacks suspect can be sent to Belgium, Italy court rules
A CCTV image of the Brussels attackers released by the Belgian police.

An Italian court on Friday approved the extradition to Belgium of an Algerian accused of fabricating false documents used by those responsible for the attacks in Paris and Brussels.

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A court in Salerno, where Djamal Eddine Ouali was arrested six days ago, said he must be extradited to Belgium within the next ten days, though the suspect's lawyer immediately said his client would appeal the ruling.

Ouali, 40, was arrested in southern Italy after a routine check into his application for a permit to stay threw up warning flags and police discovered his name was on a wanted list issued by Belgian authorities over the two attacks.
   
He was detained under a European arrest warrant and questioned in prison by prosecutors.
   
Belgium prosecutors said following the arrest that Ouali was believed to be part of a forgery ring creating fake papers used, among others, by Salah Abdeslam - the prime suspect in the Paris attacks.
   
The ring had also made papers used by Najim Laachraoui, one of the two airport suicide bombers in Brussels and the man believed to have made the bombs for both attacks, as well as Mohamed Belkaid, who was shot dead by Brussels police on March 15th, according to media reports.
   
Investigators think Laachraoui and Belkaid were in phone contact with several of the Paris attackers on the night of France's worst ever terror attacks that killed 130 people.

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