Paris Attack Suspect Salah Abdeslam Backed Out of Suicide Bombing, Prosecutor Says

The suspected Paris attacker was captured in Molenbeek, Brussels Friday.

ByABC News
March 19, 2016, 3:19 PM

— -- Suspected Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam said he planned to commit a suicide bombing at France's main stadium but then "backtracked" and abandoned his explosive belt, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said.

Abdeslam made the admission today to Belgian investigators, Molins said.

"His first declarations are to be taken with caution and leave open a series of questions that Salah Abdeslam will have to explain," Molins said.

Abdeslam, who was captured in Molenbeek, Brussels, Friday after five months on the run, plans to fight an extradition to France, his lawyer told reporters Saturday.

"We will refuse the extradition," lawyer Sven Mary told reporters.

Molins said, "This refusal will ... only lead to a longer procedure."

French and Belgian prosecutors are working on another legal exchange different from an extradition, that would enable Belgium to give the suspect to France without government interference.

French officials said they expect Abdeslam to be transferred to France within 60 to 90 days.

The Belgian federal prosecutor has charged Abdeslam with participation in terrorist murder and participation in the activities of a terrorist organization.

He is being held in the maximum-security area of the Bruges prison, a spokeswoman for the Belgian prison administration told ABC News.

Mary told reporters Abedeslam is "collaborating with the Belgian justice."

PHOTO: In this framegrab taken from VTM, armed police officers escort a suspect to a police vehicle during a raid in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels,March 18, 2016.
In this framegrab taken from VTM, armed police officers escort a suspect to a police vehicle during a raid in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels,March 18, 2016.

Abdeslam was found Friday in an apartment only a few yards away from his family home in Molenbeek. He was hospitalized then released to police custody.

Abdeslam allegedly rented the car that carried a team of terrorists to the Stade de France soccer stadium in Paris on Nov. 13, as well as the car that carried another team of terrorists to the Bataclan theater in Paris, where the majority of the 130 victims were killed. He is believed to have driven one of the cars that night.

It is also believed Abdeslam was expected to carry out a subsequent attack in the 18th Arrondissement of Paris. However, his exact role in the attacks remains unclear.

PHOTO: Medics evacuate an injured person on Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire, close to the Bataclan theater, early on Nov. 14, 2015 in Paris.
Medics evacuate an injured person on Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire, close to the Bataclan theater, early on Nov. 14, 2015 in Paris.

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