Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam has admitted he
wanted to blow himself up but then changed his mind, a
French prosecutor says.
Abdeslam has been charged with terrorism offences in
Belgium a day after he was seized in a dramatic raid.
Abdeslam will fight extradition to France but has been co-
operating with police, his lawyer says.
The Paris attacks in November left 130 people dead and
dozens injured.
The so-called Islamic State (IS) group said it was behind
the bombings and shootings.
Abdeslam is charged with participation in terrorist murder
and the activities of a terrorist group, Belgium's federal
prosecutor's office says.
Paris prosecutor Francois Molins told a news conference:
"Salah Abdeslam today during questioning by [Belgian]
investigators affirmed that, and I quote, 'he wanted to blow
himself up at the Stade de France and that he had backed
down'."
Abdeslam's assertions should be treated with caution, he
added.
The 26-year-old French national, born in Belgium, is in
custody following his arrest in Brussels on Friday after four
months on the run.
Investigators hope Abdeslam, who was shot in the leg
during his arrest, will reveal more information about the IS
network behind the Paris attacks, its financing and plans.
They believe he helped with logistics, including renting
rooms and driving suicide bombers to the Stade de France.
Abdeslam is believed to have fled shortly after the attacks,
returning to the Molenbeek district of Brussels.
Interpol has meanwhile urged "extra vigilance" at borders
following Friday's Brussels raid, saying more accomplices
may try to flee Europe.
The subject of a massive manhunt, Salah Abdeslam was
arrested about 500m (1,600ft) from his home in
Molenbeek. His brother, Brahim, was one of the Paris
attackers, who blew himself up.
Another man arrested at the same time as Salah
Abdeslam on Friday, Monir Ahmed Alaaj, has also been
charged with participation in terrorist murder and the
activities of a terrorist group, the Belgian prosecutors say.
Friday's raid also saw three members of a family
detained.
They include Abid Aberkan, described as a friend of
Abdeslam, who has been charged with participation in the
activities of a terrorist organisation and harbouring
criminals.
Another family member, identified as Djemila M, has been
charged with harbouring criminals, but is not in custody,
the prosecutor's office says.
Abid Aberkan's mother, Sihane, has been freed and faces
no charges.
Fingerprints
The raid came after Abdeslam's fingerprints were found in
a flat in another Brussels district, Forest, raided on
Tuesday.
Dramatic footage showed Abdeslam being bundled into a
police car on Friday after a volley of gunfire. Alaaj was
also injured during the arrests, but both suspects were
discharged from hospital on Saturday.
French President Francois Hollande said Abdeslam's arrest
was "an important moment".
"The battle against terrorism does not end tonight, even
though this is a victory," Mr Hollande told a news
conference on Friday with Belgian Prime Minister Charles
Michel.
"We must catch all those who allowed, organised or
facilitated these attacks and we realise that they are a lot
more numerous than we thought earlier and had identified,"
he said.
Prosecutors said Alaaj had travelled with Abdeslam to
Germany last October, where his fingerprints were taken
during an identity check.
A false Syrian passport in Alaaj's name and Belgian
identity papers under an alias were found in a flat in Forest
raided on Tuesday.
More details have meanwhile emerged about an Algerian
national, Mohamed Belkaid, shot dead in Tuesday's raid.
Associated Press says it has been passed documents by
the Syrian opposition news site, Zaman al-Wasl,
suggesting he joined IS in 2014 and asked to be a suicide
bomber.
Belgian investigators say he is likely to have been an
associate of Abdeslam.
Along with the Stade de France, the Paris bombings and
shootings targeted the Bataclan concert hall and bars and
restaurants.
Officials have identified most of the people they believe to
have carried out the assaults and on Friday Mr Hollande
predicted that more arrests could follow.
Most of the suspects either died during the attacks or
were killed in subsequent police raids.
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