Police in the French city of Nantes have arrested a man as part of the investigation into Monday evening’s terrorist attack in which two people were killed and a third person seriously injured. French media report that the man arrested in Nantes had received a video from the Brussels attacker just minutes before he carried out Monday evening’s act of terror. For the time being at least, the Belgian Judicial Authorities are refraining from comment about the arrest.
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French police arrest man that was in contact with Brussels attack terrorist
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The man was arrested in Malakoff, an eastern suburb of Nantes. The VRT’s correspondent in France Frank Renout says the sources within the police and the prosecutor’s office have confirmed this with French media.
Like the man that carried out Monday evening’s attack, the suspect that has been arrested in Nantes is of Tunisian origin.
"He is believed to have received a video from the attacker. The video was sent just before the attack. It shows the attacker announcing and claiming responsibility for the attack”, Frank Renout said.
At Belgium’s request
The regional newspaper Ouest-France reports that the Belgian authorities had asked French police to arrest the man. The Federal Judicial Authorities are currently refraining from comment on the arrest.
"The man that received the video has been arrested. No arms were found at his home. However, a computer and other items were confiscated. French media say that three other people also received the video. It is not clear what the relationship is between them and the Brussels attacker”, Frank Renout said.
The Brussels attack
On Monday evening Abdesalem Lassoued shot two Swedish football supporters dead and seriously injured a third.
The morning after the attack he was tracked down by police to a café not far from his home in the Brussels municipality of Schaarbeek. He was shot by police and died on his way to hospital.