Belgian police have also tried to question him over his links to the
three suicide bombers who struck Brussels airport and metro on Mar 22,
killing 32 people and injuring hundreds.
"He has been charged with attempted murder either alone or jointly" over the gunbattle at an apartment in the southern Forest district of Brussels, lawyer Sven Mary told AFP.
Belgian prosecutors later confirmed the charges against Abdeslam, 26, who is currently awaiting extradition to France.
"Salah Abdeslam has been charged today with attempted murder in the case opened after the gunbattle in Forest during which several police officers were injured," the federal prosecutor's office said in a statement. "The judge did not make an order for his arrest given that he is already in detention over the attacks in Paris."
Abdeslam, a French national of Moroccan origin who grew up in Belgium, is due to be transferred to France in coming days over the Nov 13 Paris attacks, in which he is believed to be the last surviving member of the terror squad that killed 130 people.
But Belgian police have also tried to question him over his links to the three suicide bombers who struck Brussels airport and metro on Mar 22, killing 32 people and injuring hundreds. The Islamic State group has claimed both attacks.
EXTRADITION NEXT WEEK?
The Forest shootout began after a joint raid by Belgian and French police on an apartment that had been rented under a false name by Khalid El Bakraoui, who one week later would carry out the suicide attack at Maalbeek metro station.
Mohamed Belkaid, an Algerian terror suspect who had been pictured in a car with Abdeslam on the Hungarian border in mid-2015, was shot dead by a police sniper after apparently opening fire on police.
Four police officers - three Belgian and a Frenchwoman - were wounded.
Based on evidence from the Forest raid including Abdeslam's fingerprints found at the scene, Belgian authorities were able to track down Abdeslam to a property about a block away from his family home in Molenbeek.
Asked if Abdeslam admitted being present at the Forest shootout, Mary said: "We won't discuss that, I won't comment."
Abdeslam will appear before a Belgian court again on Apr 28 and his extradition to France will come "perhaps two days after his court appearance," Mary added.
Separately a judge remanded in custody for one month Abid Aberkan, who was arrested on Mar 18 for sheltering Salah Abdeslam in Molenbeek and charged with "participating in a terrorist group" and hiding a fugitive.
One suspect was killed and four police were wounded in the gunbattle at
an apartment in the Forest district of Brussels on Mar 15, three days
before Abdeslam (pictured) was arrested. (Photo: AFP)
BRUSSELS: Key Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam was
charged on Thursday (Apr 21) with attempted murder over a deadly
shootout with police in Brussels a week before the suicide bombings in
the Belgian capital, his lawyer and prosecutors said.
An Algerian suspect was killed and four police officers were wounded
in the Mar 15 shooutout, which led to Abdeslam's arrest three days later
after a massive European manhunt."He has been charged with attempted murder either alone or jointly" over the gunbattle at an apartment in the southern Forest district of Brussels, lawyer Sven Mary told AFP.
Belgian prosecutors later confirmed the charges against Abdeslam, 26, who is currently awaiting extradition to France.
"Salah Abdeslam has been charged today with attempted murder in the case opened after the gunbattle in Forest during which several police officers were injured," the federal prosecutor's office said in a statement. "The judge did not make an order for his arrest given that he is already in detention over the attacks in Paris."
Abdeslam, a French national of Moroccan origin who grew up in Belgium, is due to be transferred to France in coming days over the Nov 13 Paris attacks, in which he is believed to be the last surviving member of the terror squad that killed 130 people.
But Belgian police have also tried to question him over his links to the three suicide bombers who struck Brussels airport and metro on Mar 22, killing 32 people and injuring hundreds. The Islamic State group has claimed both attacks.
EXTRADITION NEXT WEEK?
The Forest shootout began after a joint raid by Belgian and French police on an apartment that had been rented under a false name by Khalid El Bakraoui, who one week later would carry out the suicide attack at Maalbeek metro station.
Mohamed Belkaid, an Algerian terror suspect who had been pictured in a car with Abdeslam on the Hungarian border in mid-2015, was shot dead by a police sniper after apparently opening fire on police.
Four police officers - three Belgian and a Frenchwoman - were wounded.
Based on evidence from the Forest raid including Abdeslam's fingerprints found at the scene, Belgian authorities were able to track down Abdeslam to a property about a block away from his family home in Molenbeek.
Asked if Abdeslam admitted being present at the Forest shootout, Mary said: "We won't discuss that, I won't comment."
Abdeslam will appear before a Belgian court again on Apr 28 and his extradition to France will come "perhaps two days after his court appearance," Mary added.
Separately a judge remanded in custody for one month Abid Aberkan, who was arrested on Mar 18 for sheltering Salah Abdeslam in Molenbeek and charged with "participating in a terrorist group" and hiding a fugitive.
Abdeslam and alleged Paris accomplice Mohamed Abrini, who
has also charged over the Brussels attacks, were moved to different
jails in Belgium last week.
Abrini, 31, has confessed to being "the man in the hat" caught on
video with suicide bombers Ibrahim El Bakraoui - Khalid's brother - and
Najim Laachraoui - the alleged bombmaker for the Paris attacks - at
Brussels airport.
IS said last week that the Bakraoui brothers, formerly known
as small-time local criminals, obtained the weapons and explosives for
both the Paris and Brussels attacks.
Abrini was meanwhile also linked to the November Paris massacre after
being caught on video at a motorway gas station with Abdeslam en route
to the French capital.
- AFP/ec
Paris attacks suspect Abdeslam charged over Brussels shootout
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