Court orders extradition of Brussels shooting suspect

Court orders extradition of Brussels shooting suspect

A French court on Thursday authorized the extradition to Belgium of the sole suspect in last month's deadly attack at the Jewish Museum in Brussels.

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The court in Versailles ordered that Mehdi Nemmouche, 29, be handed to Belgian authorities to face terrorism-related murder charges. 

 

His lawyer announced plans to appeal the extradition. 

 

Nemmouche, who comes from the northern French town of Roubaix, was arrested at a bus station in Marseille six days after the May 24 museum shooting, which left dead an Israeli couple, a French woman and a Belgian man. 

 

He was found in possession of a Kalashnikov rifle and pistol that resembled those used in the attack. 

 

His lawyer, Apolin Pepiezep, claimed his client stole the weapons from a vehicle in Belgium. 

 

A video was also found among Nemmouche's possessions. 

 

In it, a voice is heard claiming responsibility for the shootings. 

 

French authorities say they believe the voice is Nemmouche's. 

 

Nemmouche's arrest has put front and centre worries about the threat posed by hundreds of European youths who traveled to Syria to wage jihad and have since returned to the continent. 

 

Investigators said the dual French-Algerian national spent around a year fighting alongside jihadist groups in Syria after coming under the influence of radical Islamists while serving a prison sentence for theft. 
   

At his first extradition hearing, Nemmouche demanded to be tried  in France, but later said he would not oppose being handed to Belgian authorities if Belgium guaranteed he would not be extradited to a third country. 
   

Pepiezep has said his client fears being transferred to Israel.

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