Belgium to extradite Paris suspect to France
After his four-month flight from the law ended March 18, Abdeslam confirmed that he will not fight his transfer back to Paris.
“The transfer is authorized,” a statement from the state prosecutor's office said.
Abdeslam's lawyer, Cedric Moisse, said that his client “would like to cooperate with the French authorities. This is his will and this is the word he wants everybody to hear.”
Abdeslam is accused of helping to plan and execute the attacks in Paris that killed 130 people. After crossing back into Belgium the day after the attacks, he was Europe's No. 1 fugitive until Belgian authorities caught him, four days ahead of the Brussels attacks.
Belgian and French authorities will now liaise on when and how the transfer could happen.
It was unclear to what extent or whether Abdeslam would be needed in the investigation of the March 22 Brussels attacks that killed 32 people.
Over a week after the March 22 attacks, soldiers searched a wooded and residential area close to the French border.
Federal prosecutors said the action is linked to the recent arrest in Paris of Reda Kriket, who is accused of participating in a terrorist group with plans for at an attack.
Three other people are in custody in the case in Belgium and the Netherlands.