Paris Attacks Suspect Abdeslam 'Wanted to Blow Himself Up' at Stadium
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Captured fugitive Salah Abdeslam had plans to blow himself up outside the Stade de France during the Paris attacks but changed his mind, a prosecutor said Saturday, after Europe's most wanted man was charged with "terrorist murder" for his role in the November assaults.
Abdeslam, who was caught after being shot in the leg in a dramatic police raid on Friday, was also charged in Brussels with participating in a terrorist group. He was then taken to a maximum security prison in the northwestern tourist city of Bruges.
Abdeslam, 26, is cooperating with the authorities but he will fight his extradition to France, his lawyer Sven Mary said.
Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said that Abdeslam told interrogators he initially "wanted to blow himself up" at the Stade de France stadium before changing his mind, AFP reported.
A total of 130 people were killed in the November 13 gun and suicide bomb attacks in Paris, which targeted the Stade de France football stadium as well as bars, restaurants and the Bataclan concert hall. The assaults were claimed by the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group.