Paris attacks suspect Abdeslam at court for questioning

Salah Abdeslam, the man thought to be the sole surviving member of the jihadist team that attacked Paris in November last year, arrived Thursday for questioning at the main court in the French capital.

Abdeslam, 26, who has twice refused to answer anti-terror judges' questions since he was transferred to France from Belgium in April, was brought to the court in a heavily guarded convoy.

He has refused to answer questions since being transferred to France in April and is believed to be angry at round-the-clock surveillance in jail.

On July 7 his lawyer Frank Berton sought unsuccessfully to get authorities to halt the surveillance, a source close to the case told AFP.

Abdeslam refused to answer questions in his first interview with a French anti-terror judge on May 20.

After four months on the run, Abdeslam was arrested on March 18 in Molenbeek, a Brussels neighbourhood notorious for being a hotbed of Islamic extremism, where he grew up.

He was brought to France to face terror charges on April 27.

Investigators have yet to pin down Abdeslam's exact role in the November 13, 2015, attacks on Paris bars, restaurants, a concert hall and the national stadium in which 130 people were killed.

Source: AFP