Mehdi Nemmouche: France extradites suspected Jewish Museum gunman to Belgium

France has extradited Mehdi Nemmouche, the man suspected of shooting dead four people at Brussels’ Jewish Museum, to Belgium.

A spokeswoman for the Belgian police told AFP that Mehdi Nemmouche, 29, arrived in Brussels on Tuesday and was being interrogated.

Four people were fatally shot in the attack on May 24, in broad daylight in the heart of the Belgian capital.

Mehdi Nemmouche, who is of Franco-Algerian origin, is said to have spent a year fighting with Islamists in Syria.

Mehdi Nemmouche, who is of Franco-Algerian origin, is said to have spent a year fighting with Islamists in Syria (photo FranceTV)

His lawyer appealed against the extradition, saying it failed to guarantee that he would not be sent to “a third country,” but France’s final appeals court rejected the complaint last week.

Mehdi Nemmouche was said to fear that once he was sent to Belgium, he would be extradited to Israel.

Two of the victims of the May 24 attack were Israeli tourists. A French female volunteer at the museum and a Belgian employee were also killed.

Mehdi Nemmouche is from Roubaix near the border with Belgium and was arrested in Marseille, during a routine customs check as he arrived on a coach from Amsterdam a few days after the shootings.

Police said he was carrying a Kalashnikov rifle and a handgun matching those used in the attack.

Prosecutors said that after spending a year in Syria he had returned to Europe, flying to Germany in March.

Belgium sought Mehdi Nemmouche’s extradition under a European arrest warrant, which fast-tracks the legal process.