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Brussels airport bomber Najim Laachraoui was one of the men who held four French journalists captive for months in Syria, the lawyer of two of the former hostages told Reuters on Friday.
Najim Laachraoui, a 25 year-old Belgian, was one of the two bombers who blew themselves up at Brussels' airport on 22 March, investigators have said.
Thirty-two people were killed in the attacks on the airport and a metro station.
In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Show all 30 1 /30In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A man carries an injured person in Brussels Airport, after explosions ripped through the departure hall
In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Travellers get to their feet in a smoke filled terminal at Brussels Airport after explosions
In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A man is wounded in Brussels Airport in Brussels
In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A man speaks on a mobile phone in Brussels Airport, after the explosions ripped through the departure hall
In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Belgian police officers detain a man at the Gare du Midi train station in Brussels
In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A police officer stands guard as people are evacuated from Brussels airport, after explosions rocked the facility in Brussels
In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People stand near Brussels airport after being evacuated following explosions that rocked the facility in Brussels
In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Crew and passengers are evacuated from Zaventem Bruxelles International Airport after an attack in Brussels
In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers gather near Brussels airport in Zaventem, following its evacuation after blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport
In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Two women wounded in Brussels Airport in Brussels
In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers and airport staff are evacuated from the terminal building after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem near Brussels
In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers and airport staff are evacuated from the terminal building after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem near Brussels
In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Broken windows seen at the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels
In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People leave the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels
In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People are evacuated from the scene after two explosions were heard at Brussels Airport
In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People wait outside of the Brussels Airport after evacuation
In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People leave the airport area after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem
In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers comfort each other as they are evacuated from the terminal building after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem
In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People react as they walk away from Brussels airport after explosions rocked the facility in Brussels
In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Emergency services attend the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels
Reuters
In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Injured people at the scene at Brussels Airport after two explosions were heard
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In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport The aftermath of the explosions at Brussels airport
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In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People wait outside of the Zaventem airport after two explosions were heard
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In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Emergency services at the scene of explosions at Brussels Airport
In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A view of the scene after the explosions at Brussels airport
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In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Emergency services at the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels
Reuters
In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport The aftermath of the explosions at Brussels airport
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In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport The view of the Brussels airport after the explosion
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In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Smoke is seen at Brussels airport in Brussels
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In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A photo shows cars on a blocked highway near Zaventem, Brussels National airport, after two explosions rocked the main hall of Brussels Airport
Getty Images
"I can confirm that he was the jailer of my clients," Marie-Laure Ingouf, a lawyer for two French journalists freed in April 2014 after spending 10 months as hostages in Syria, told Reuters.
An engineering sciences student who dropped out of university, Laachraoui is believed to have had the technical training that could mean he was the armourer of the operation.
Le Parisien daily on Friday quoted intelligence sources as saying Laachraoui was in charge of interrogating the hostages and was less brutal to them than Mehdi Nemmouche, a Frenchman who in May 2014 killed four people in an attack on Brussels' Jewish Museum.
One of the four former French hostages, Nicolas Henin, had in September 2014 said that he recognized Nemmouche as one of his Syria jailers.
Reuters
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