Remarkable radio fragment with suspicious Paris attacks emerges

“It’s the third, third check. Frankly, we find it a bit annoying.” The three voices complement each other, sound calm, somewhat tired. Three North African young men in a car, the reporter introduces them. But, one of them adds graciously, they “understand a little bit about the usefulness” of the controls.

It is Saturday, November 14, 2015, the morning after the terrorist attacks in Paris. Concert hall Bataclan, Stade de France, cafes and restaurants; 130 people died and more than 490 were injured. France is in shock. On the roads to Belgium, one police check follows another. A reporter from the Belgian radio station RTBF addresses waiting motorists.

The result is a short report, a fragment like the countless radio stations have in their archives. Yet the report of that Saturday morning is one with eternal value. And so RTBF posted the recording online Monday after finding her recently. Those ‘three North African young men’ turn out to be Mohamed Amri, Hamza Attou and Salah Abdeslam. In the months that followed, the latter became the most wanted man in Europe.

At the time of the report, the officers at the checkpoints were not yet clear about his involvement in the attacks, RTBF writes. And so it was possible that a fleeing Abdeslam comments in a flat voice at the checkpoints that are the result of the horrific acts of which he is partly suspected: the attacks in Paris in 2015. Abdeslam passed through the checkpoints and was arrested in Brussels almost six months later. municipality of Molenbeek arrested.

In prison he is said to have spoken with fellow inmates about an interview at a checkpoint. When transcripts of those tapped conversations were leaked, radio station RTBF dug into its archive and found that the interview had been conducted by one of its reporters.

Unused Bomb Belt

The case against the 20 men suspected of planning, committing or supporting the attacks claimed by the Islamic State (IS) will start on Wednesday. Only one of the suspects who actually hit or intends to hit the city that November 13 is still alive: Salah Abdeslam. He therefore plays a central role in the lawsuit. The other suspects are The Guardian already perished, are stuck abroad or were only involved in the preparation.

Abdeslam is suspected of having rented two of the attackers’ cars, booked hotel rooms for the group and dropped off three men who later blew themselves up at the Stade de France. He himself would have worn a bomb belt that he – due to a defect or doubt – dumped unused.

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