Paris attacks: Abdeslam's trial could lift lid on secret world of Isis

With Salah Abdeslam possibly set to appear before a judge in Brussels as early as Saturday, the key issue will be the extradition of the 26-year-old alleged extremist to France. President François Hollande has already said French authorities will request that Abdeslam stands trial in the city where he is suspected of having helped the men who killed 130 people in shootings at bars, restaurants and at the Bataclan concert hall. According to the French newspaper Le Monde Abdeslam, a French national who grew up in Brussels, will almost certainly appear before a French judge or judges, charged with some of the most serious crimes in local law. The trial will be an extraordinary one, potentially revealing a wealth of information about both the attacks in Paris, the Islamic State and radical networks in Molenbeek, the Brussels neighbourhood where Abdeslam was found. The area is seen – wrongly according to some – as a hotbed of extremism. But before the trial will come the questioning. Police believe Abdeslam, the only survivor among the Paris attackers, rented two cars involved in the attacks under his real name, booked hotel rooms, escorted by car the three suicide bombers who blew themselves up at the Stade de France and may have planned his own suicide attack in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. Belgian police, and probably security services, as well as their French counterparts will be first in line but there will be a long queue of other services waiting to either talk to the former mechanic or at least receive transcripts of, or briefings on his statements. Many will have questions of their own to pose. It is rare that a violent extremist involved so deeply in such a prominent attack has been detained, let alone tried in a normal court of law, particularly in Europe. There have been many trials of extremists whose plots were thwarted by security services, but the prevalence of suicide attacks, and the decision of other militants to seek “death by police” has meant that detentions and trials have largely been limited to peripheral members of any networks which actually fulfil their violence ambitions. Abdeslam, whose elder brother was killed in the Paris attacks, did not travel to Syria but may know what happened in the Isis training camps where the plot to attack the French capital took shape. Was it commissioned by Isis leaders who had been looking to strike Europe for some time? Was the high command’s involvement and support more opportunistic, coming after the Belgian and French attackers suggested such an operation? Any answers may give indicate whether attacks in Europe are integral to the strategic vision of Isis or more dependent on resources – such as a brigade of Belgians and French volunteers – available at any one time. That brigade has now been disbanded, after suffering heavy casualties, reports from Syria and statements from western intelligence officials indicate. The former bar owner may be able to answer vital questions about networks in Belgium or further afield in Europe. He may also know how the attackers reached France from Syria. Will Abdeslam talk at all? Even hardened militants do often give information eventually. Abdeslam’s profile, his apparent failure to go through with a suicide bombing, his confusion and fear after the attack, as well as his back story in Molenbeek, indicates that he may not be too hard for interrogators to crack. Thanks for reading.

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