Belgium makes Paris attack arrest

Although the suspect was taken into custody earlier this week, Belgian prosecutors keep the arrest quiet to avoid tipping off potential accomplices, Reuters quoted a spokesperson as saying.

In a statement, the prosecutors office said the suspect – named as Abdoullah C., a 30-year-old Belgian – had been in contact several times with Hasna Ait Boulahcen, the cousin of Paris mastermind Abdelhamid Abbaoud, between the attack and an eventual police raid in the Saint-Denis suburb five days later. In the raid, Boulahcen and Abbaoud were killed.

Abdoullah C. has been arrested for having a role in terrorist murders and participating in the activities of a terrorist organization, prosecutors said.

Belgian authorities have been carrying out raids across the country since the November 13 attacks that left 130 people dead. Several of the suspects including the attackers' ringleader, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, had lived in the Brussels district of Molenbeek.

Some of those detained in raids have since been released, with charges being brought against nine people, including Abdoullah C.

mz/jil (dpa, Reuters, AFP)