Belgian prosecutors say a man arrested on Friday has admitted being the “man in the hat” seen with the bombers who attacked a Brussels airport.
They say Mohamed Abrini told investigators he was at the scene of the March 22 suicide bombings.
Abrini is also wanted in connection with the attacks in Paris that killed 130 people in November. He is one of six men arrested in Brussels on Friday. Four have been charged with terror offences, BBC reported.
The attacks at Zaventem airport and a metro station in Brussels left 32 people dead. Officials believe those who carried out the Brussels and Paris attacks were part of the same network backed by the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group.
Abrini, a 31-year-old Belgian of Moroccan origin, confessed to being the “man in the hat” after being confronted with the evidence, the federal prosecutor said.
“He said that he threw away his jacket in a rubbish bin and sold his hat after the attack,” the statement added.
There is no word from the suspect himself or his lawyer.
Abrini’s fingerprints and DNA were found in two “safe houses” in Brussels, as well as in a car used during the Paris attacks, investigators said earlier.
The apparent confirmation that Abrini is the man seen in the airport footage is a “huge” development for Belgian authorities, whose response to terrorism has come in for criticism.
Other suspects charged on Saturday were named as Osama K, Herve BN and Bilal EM. They are all accused of “participating in terrorist acts’’ linked to the Brussels bombings.
