Belgium confirms arrest of Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam

One of the main suspects in the Paris attacks from last November, Salah Abdeslam, has been caught by police in an operation this afternoon in the Brussels quarter of Molenbeek.

"We got him," said Theo Francken, the Belgian Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration.

The Federal Prosecutor's office also confirmed his arrest, public broadcaster RTBF said.

Belgian media reported that Abdeslam was wounded.

Several exchanges of gun fire rang out in the city's Molenbeek area  - the scene of past investigations - and police officers were seen surrounding an apartment block there.

• French Premier Francois Hollande and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel left a meeting of EU leaders on the migration crisis at the same time in the Belgian capital and met to discuss the operation, officials said.

Television footage showed masked, black-clad security forces guarding a street. Reporters at the scene described white smoke rising from a rooftop and a helicopter hovering overhead....
  [rte.ie]
18/3/16
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•  Paris attacks