Paris Attacks: Abdelhamid Abaaoud Was near Bataclan during Siege

Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks, was near the Bataclan concert hall during a siege there, French prosecutors say.

Prosecutor Francois Molins said mobile phone data also showed Abdelhamid Abaaoud returned to cafes and restaurants targeted in the attacks.

France’s general prosecutor added there was evidence that Abdelhamid Abaaoud was planning an attack on Paris’s La Defense business district.

Meanwhile an arrest warrant was issued in Belgium for a man named Mohamed Abrini over the attacks.

Francois Molins gave more details of the raid in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis in which Abdelhamid Abaaoud was killed.

As well as Abdelhamid Abaaoud and his cousin Hasna Ait Boulahcen, a third unidentified man died in that raid. Francois Molins said it is believed he was the third attacker in the team that attacked bars and restaurants in the 10th and 11th arrondissements.

Jawad Bendaoud, the man who lent the Saint-Denis flat, has been put under formal investigation for “criminal conspiracy in connection with a terrorist enterprise”.

Also on November 24, Belgian prosecutors said that two days before the attacks, new suspect Mohamed Abrini was seen driving a car with suspect Salah Abdeslam at a petrol station on the highway to Paris.

Mohamed Abrini is described as “dangerous and probably armed”.

Salah Abdeslam is currently the subject of an international manhunt after the attacks which killed 130 people.

The Renault Clio that Mohamed Abrini was seen driving was later used in the attacks, prosecutors say.

Police say he should not be approached by the public.

Belgian prosecutors also said on November 24 that they have also partially identified two other men who have been taken into custody.

They are under suspicion – in the words of a statement – of “participating in the activities of a terrorist group”, and “acts of terrorist murder”.

The men, named as Ali O and Lazez A, are both from the Brussels district of Molenbeek, and both will appear separately in court during the course of this week.