28 Feb 2016

Man linked to ringleader of Paris attacks arrested in Algeria

7:57 pm on 28 February 2016

Algerian authorities have jailed a man with dual Algerian and Belgian citizenship for links with the ringleader of the Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a court statement said on Saturday.

The court in the Algerian city of Bejaia said 29-year-old Zahir Mehdaoui, a resident of Brussels, had been charged with belonging to a terrorist group active overseas.

The court provided no further details and it was not clear when Mehdaoui was arrested.

Islamist militants killed 130 people at a sports stadium, a string of cafes and a concert hall in and near Paris on November 13.

Abaaoud, a 28-year-old Belgian citizen, died when police laid siege to his hideout flat in Saint Denis, north of Paris, five days later.

-Reuters