Family of Belgian Terror Suspect Insists He Didn't Help Paris Attackers

Family of Mohamed Abrini insisted he was innocent.

ByABC News
November 27, 2015, 10:38 AM

— -- The family of wanted Belgian terror suspect Mohamed Abrini insisted he was innocent of helping the Paris attackers in an exclusive interview with ABC News.

There were 130 people killed as a result of the six attacks, with more then 300 people injured.

Abrini's mother and fiancee, who only spoke to ABC News if their identities weren't revealed, said they wished he would turn himself into police. Authorities have said Abrini, 30, was seen driving with Salah Abdeslam on a highway in Ressons, France, two days before the attacks that killed 130 people earlier this month.

"We are with you and we know you are not guilty," said his fiancee. "He is not a dangerous person. He is not a killer."

Belgium authorities have issued a warrant for his arrest. Police have described Abrini as “dangerous and probably armed.”

"If he can hear me, please turn yourself in," said his mother. "I don't eat anymore. I don't sleep."

Abrini’s name was on a list of people who had traveled to Syria and then returned to Belgium, the authorities said. It was not clear when he allegedly traveled to Syria.

He was allegedly caught on camera at a gas station with suspected Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam on Nov. 11, driving the same Renault Clio that was used two days later by the attackers.

Abrini’s mother told ABC’s Aicha El Hammar her son is innocent and wasn’t radicalized. “He was a kind man. Helpful. He dressed normally," she said.

She says they had a close relationship, he was close to his brothers and sisters, he liked to made jokes and enjoying laughing.

Mohamed’s brother Suleyman, 20, fled to Syria to join ISIS when their mother was away on vacation, according to his mother.

Abrini’s mother told ABC they didn’t know Suleyman was in Syria, but a week after he left, “somebody sent us a message from ISIS to let us know he was in Syria."

"If I had known it, I would not have gone on vacation. He didn’t show any signs. He was working… When I came back, he only left 2 days before my return."

"For me, they are not jihads. This is nothing to do with Islam," she said.

On the day of the Paris attacks, Abrini’s mother claims he was with her in Belgium until early evening, before he and his fiancée went to sign a lease on a new apartment in Belgium. His mother says his fiancée then dropped him at his work – a fast food place - about an hour before the attacks started.

"I was not worried, he’s 31 years old. He is not a boy," his mother said.

His fiancée has pleaded with him to turn himself in, “Turn yourself in. Don’t forget you have a family who care. We support you as always. We will not let you down. We just want to know what happened.”

When ABC’s Aicha El Hammar asked about their relationship, she says they had a normal relationship, were getting married in Feb 2016 and planning their future.

“We are together for years. Not at all radical. Just like normal people. We go out. We take drinks. We go to see movies. Just like normal people," she said.

Abrini’s fiancée admits he had made mistakes, he’d had spent some time in jail previously but his fiancée says it was a result of mistakes made as a young man, “It’s not because you went to jail that it means you are a bad person. Or it doesn’t mean you have no future.”

"He’s not a dangerous person. He is not a killer. He is not influenced. Maybe he has been influenced… I don’t think it’s him. I don’t think it’s him."