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Paris attacks: Suspect Salah Abdeslam entered Austria in September

"He said he was going on holiday in Vienna, but there are no further details yet"

Francois Murphy
Tuesday 17 November 2015 13:50 GMT
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Salah Abdeslam, the 26-year-old who is wanted for his part in Friday's killings
Salah Abdeslam, the 26-year-old who is wanted for his part in Friday's killings (Police Nationale/PA)

A suspect in Friday's deadly attacks in Paris travelled to Austria from Germany in September for unknown reasons, Austria's interior minister told ORF radio on Tuesday.

ORF said the suspect was Belgian-born Frenchman Salah Abdeslam, 26, who escaped back to Belgium early on Saturday and eluded a police dragnet in the Brussels neighbourhood of Molenbeek, where he lived with his two brothers.

One of those brothers died in the Paris assault, while a other was arrested at the weekend but later released.

"One of the presumed culprits entered Austria from Germany in September," Austria's Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner told ORF. "Now the question is where did he stay in Austria, and for what purpose. The investigative work is fully underway."

ORF said Abdeslam attracted attention during a vehicle check in early September.

"He said he was going on holiday in Vienna, but there are no further details yet," Mikl-Leitner said.

Reuters

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