Paris Attacks Suspect Gets Jail Term

A Belgian judge on Monday sentenced Salah Abdeslam, the prime surviving suspect in the 2015 terrorist attacks on Paris, to 20 years in prison over a shootout with police in Brussels in 2016. Abdeslam’s co-defendant Sofien Ayari also received a 20-year term for attempted terrorist murder, RTE reported. In its judgment, the court in the Belgian capital said “there can be no doubt” about Abdeslam and his co-defendant’s involvement in extremism. While his lawyer argued 28-year-old Abdeslam should be acquitted because of a procedural error, prosecutors had charged him with attempted murder over the Brussels shootout in March 2016, days before his arrest, and called for a jail term of 20 years. Neither Abdeslam nor Ayari were in court to hear the ruling. Prosecutors say Abdeslam is the lone survivor of the self-styled Islamic State terror group’s suicide squad.