Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam chose not to blow himself up, says brother

Mohamed Abdeslam, the brother of Paris attacks prime suspect Salah Abdeslam, said that the latter voluntarily chose not to blow himself up along with the other Islamic State men.

Salah Abdeslam was arrested last month by the Brussels police in connection with the November 2015 attacks in Paris which claimed the lives of at least 130 people.

Salah Abdeslam was captured on 18 March by Belgian authorities after a shootout in Molenbeek - a suburb of Brussels where several other terror suspects were found to be residing.

After his arrest, he told the investigators that he was instructed to carry out a suicide bombing at the Stade de France stadium, but backed out at the last minute. Four days after his arrest, the Belgian capital was struck by Islamic State again. The terror outfit bombed the airport and a metro station - killing 32 and injuring about 300.

A Belgian court has ruled that he could be extradited to France. The 26-year-old suspect, who is one of the 10 men accused of carrying out the November 2015 Paris attacks, is being held in Belgium under a European arrest warrant at the demand of French authorities.

-- ANI