BRUSSELS – Salah Abdeslam opened to the Belgian judiciary to the point that he told her that he was continuing to plan “something” from his  . New attacks, new blows to the heart of Europe after those inflicted in Paris on November 13th 2015, for which two days ago he was arrested after four months of manhunts. The new and certainly not marginal “detail” of the guarantee questioning to which the jihadist, a 26-year-old born in Belgium but of French-Moroccan nationality, was subjected yesterday in the headquarters of the federal police in Brussels is revealed by Foreign Minister Didier Reynders. “Abdeslam said he was ready to restart something from Brussels. And he is probably telling the truth,” the minister’s words. That the terrorist is sincere, according to Reynders, would prove it “the many heavy weapons recovered after a first investigation, in addition to the new network of contacts that Salah had set up around his figure here in Brussels”.

I wonder if even Minister Reynders’ revelations will infuriate Salah’s defense attorney, Sven Mary, like those made public a few hours after the interrogation of his client by Paris prosecutor Francois Molins. Concluding the examination of the magistrates, Mary had explained to the media that  would have opposed the extradition in France but was actively collaborating with the Belgian investigators. In particular, his lawyer had said, Abdeslam had not simply admitted to being in Paris on the evening of November 13th, but also that he had intended to be blown up and then given up for reasons “that it is too early to reveal them “, concluded Mary.

At a press conference in Paris, prosecutor Molins added further information from Salah’s interrogation: the magistrates in Brussels said that the goal of his  , where the France-Germany match was underway and where other members of the  they blew themselves up. Molins himself had then stressed the need for Salah in Paris for further explanation. “Because – he argued – on the evening of November 13th we ascertained his presence in the 18th arrondissement at around 10 pm, where he had taken after accompanying the terrorists of the Stade de France. Immediately after the attacks, the Islamic State had issued a statement referring to a bomber in action in the 18th arrondissement. So, did Salah have to jump there or, as he says today, to the stadium? ”

The statements of Molins are considered by lawyer Sven Mary a violation of the secrecy of the investigation. The lawyer intends to call the Paris prosecutor to answer in court. “That press conference – accuses Mary speaking to the Belgian RTBF public television – is a violation, a lack. And I cannot let it pass”. From Paris, in an anonymous form, a member of the Prosecutor’s office replies to Mary’s allegations, claiming that “the French law authorizes the prosecutor to speak publicly about the elements of an investigation”.

In his statements, the defense lawyer never fails to emphasize the importance of the investigation currently underway in Belgium to dismantle the “sense of guilt” that seems to affect the country from which the Paris killers departed until inducing him to yield too hastily to French pressure to reach the extradition of Salah Abdeslam. “France wants to try it at home, but Salah is very important for the (Belgian) investigation. I would say that it is like gold for the investigators. He is collaborating, communicating and not imposing on his right to silence. I think it would be right taking the right time, give investigators time to talk to him “.

After the one issued immediately after the November 13 attacks, France yesterday issued a second European arrest warrant against Salah Abdeslam, to speed up the time of its delivery by the Brussels authorities. The Belgian Minister of Justice, Koen Geens, while expressing himself with extreme caution on what will be the judicial course of the Salah Abdeslam affair, admits that the instrument chosen by France, the European arrest warrant, obviously limits the possibilities of the terrorist to oppose extradition. “It will take two months (to arrive at the decision), no more than two and a half months (in case of appeal). Before then we will not be able to tell ourselves certainty of the result” declared Geens to RTL.

If the attorney Mary exalts the work of the Belgian investigators, the federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw underlines to the microphones of the public RTBF “the enormous job” that has brought to the arrest of Salah Abdeslam and his supporters to Molenbeek. “It is not a coincidence that we have arrived. We have dealt with almost 24 thousand calls, with information that led in all directions. But with the verification of every detail we arrived at the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels and from there to accelerate the arrest “.

According to an RTL report, on Thursday 17 March, the day before the operation, the police filmed the funeral rite for Brahim Abdeslam, Salah’s brother, who jumped in Paris. Among those present was Abid Aberkan, who Salah had approached by looking for a new hiding place for himself and his accomplice Amine Choukri after searching the apartment on rue du Dries in Forest on Tuesday 15 March. Aberkan had placed Salah and Choukri in the basement of his mother Djemila M., at 79 rue des Quatre Vents, in Molenbeek, where he was arrested. Although the prosecution officially links Salah’s definitive location to wiretapping, various rumors circulate in the media about other decisive factors. For example, that at 79 rue des Quatre Vents too much pizza was delivered for as many people were domiciled there. There is also talk of anonymous tip-off, perhaps of a neighbor, and of a video of the funeral of Brahim Abdeslam filmed with a smartphone, perhaps to show Salah that he could not attend.

Abid Aberkan and his mother were arrested on charges of participating in a terrorist organization and aiding in hiding. The man is still in prison, the woman has returned to freedom on condition of not communicating with the press. On Amine Choukri hang the same charges of Salah Abdeslam: murder with terrorist aims and participation in a terrorist organization. Salah Abdeslam is currently being held in provisional detention pending validation of the European arrest warrant at the Bruges special prison. He will reappear at a closed hearing in front of the magistrate next Wednesday, when the detention will be extended by at least another month. As his client is opposed to extradition in France, explained lawyer Sven Mary,