Prosecutor Francois Molins have announced that the country of France has arrested 29 year-old Mehdi Nemmouche, who is named as the prime suspect in the deadly attack at the Brussels Jewish Museum that happened on May 24th. Nemmouche is said to have a history of "religious radicalism," with French President Francois Hollande saying that the man is a former fighter in the Syrian conflict. Nemmouch was shortly arrested upon setting foot in France.
Hollande declared, "The entire government is mobilized to stop the jihadists from doing harm. It's a constant battle -- these jihadists, we will combat them."
In a press conference, Molins explained that Nemmouche was caught carrying an assault rifle, a loaded handgun and other items that were similar to the weapons used in the killings in Brussels. The suspect was said to have been caught during a random check by customs officers six days after the killings, Molins added. Molins and Belgian prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw had also stated in separate news briefings that a video of Nemmouche admitting killing people in Brussels was also found during the random check.
According to Molins, the suspect has yet to speak to authorities. He also said that Memmouche has been jailed five times prior to the arrest, and had left Europe in December 2012 and stayed for more than a year in countries including Syria.
Last month, three people, with two an Israeli couple, were fatally shot at the museum, Bloomberg said. According to Belgian officials, the attack was "cold-blooded" and "determined," which only lasted less than 90 seconds. A fourth victim from the attack is currently in a coma.
As with the question about Nemmouche being a radical, spokesman Eric Van der Sypt for the Belgian federal prosecutors' office in Brussels, said to Bloomberg by telephone, "We can confirm that this person was radicalized. He went to Syria to fight there and then came back to France. That is a problem that is occurring in every European country at the moment."
Nemmouche's extradition to Belgium for trial will be decided by a judge and that Belgium has already issued a warrant of arrest for the man, according to authorities. Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo has already said in a separate statement that Belgian and French police will be working together to not only resolve the case but would extend their collaboration in order to prevent similar events.
On the other hand, Bloomberg said that the Belgium killings had born fruit to a proposal of an accord of sorts between police in the European Union. In a joint press conference in Paris yesterday, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and his Belgian counterpart Joelle Milquet had called together for a partnership that would promote better sharing of police intelligence between countries in the euro zone. Moreover, Cazeneuve added that he will be seeking legislative amendments to aid in the tracking of potential jihadists in the area.
