Two men held in Austria for suspected links to the Paris attacks are not French, a source close to the investigation told AFP Thursday, denying media reports about their nationality.
The two men arrested at the weekend at a refugee centre in the western city of Salzburg "are not French, but are an Algerian and a Pakistani," the source said, asking not to be named.
Salzburg prosecutors had on Wednesday said the two had "arrived from the Middle East" with officials probing "indications of a possible link" to the November 13 Paris attacks.
The arrests reportedly came after a tip-off from French police and the source said Thursday that French investigators had travelled to Salzburg to question the men.
The Kronen-Zeitung tabloid, which first reported the arrests, had said the two were French and were holding fake Syrian passports.
Officials in Austria and sources in France were on Wednesday unable to confirm this.
The paper said they arrived in October together with members of the cell behind the Paris attacks as part of the huge wave of migrants who have entered Austria from the Balkans this year.
Salah Abdeslam, the fugitive 26-year-old French citizen thought to have played a key logistical role in the attacks, was known to have been in Austria on September 9.
According to the Austrian authorities, he was pulled over in a routine traffic check on his way from Hungary to Germany. With him in the car, which had Belgian number plates, were two unidentified men. They were all allowed to continue.
Several visits to Hungary?
The Salzburger Nachrichten daily on Thursday said investigators have reconstructed Abdeslam's journey in his hired Mercedes thanks to the car's anti-theft tracking device.
The paper said he drove through Austria to the Hungarian-Serbian border, and was pulled over again on the return leg of the journey -- this time by police in the southern German state of Bavaria.
It said he picked up two men in Hungary -- Soufiane K. and Samir R. -- and that both had fake Belgian passports.
Hungarian officials on December 3 said Abdeslam had travelled to Hungary before the attacks but did not say when.
Earlier this month, French sources said Abdeslam was in Hungary on September 17, meaning he may have made several trips in the run-up to the attacks.
Three of the nine Paris attackers have yet to be identified, including two of three suicide bombers who blew themselves up outside the Stade de France stadium, who appear to have used fake passports to sneak into Europe.
AFP
Thu Dec 17 2015
![Paris attacks suspects held in Austria 'not French': source Paris attacks suspects held in Austria 'not French': source](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2015-11/61447829519_ShootoutNorthernPari.jpg)
The arrests reportedly came after a tip-off from French police and the source said Thursday that French investigators had travelled to Salzburg to question the men. Photo AP Photo/Francois Mori
Kylian Mbappe tandatangan kontrak dengan Real Madrid
Bintang bola sepak Perancis Kylian Mbappe menandatangani kontrak selama lima tahun dengan kelab Sepanyol Real Madrid pada Selasa.
Pelepasan ketujuh air sisa nuklear Fukushima ke laut selesai
Jepun telah menyelesaikan pusingan ketujuh pelepasan air sisa radioaktif yang dirawat dari loji kuasa nuklear Fukushima Daiichi ke Lautan Pasifik pada Selasa.
Empat termasuk kapten maut dalam pertempuran
Empat anggota tentera India termasuk kapten meninggal dunia akibat kecederaan selepas pertempuuran pada malam isnin di Hutan Desa.
Pakistan sahkan 4 warganya terbunuh di Oman
Pakistan berkata pada Selasa empat warganya terbunuh dalam insiden tembakan pada malam Isnin berhampiran ibu negara Oman, Muscat.
Lima terbunuh, puluhan cedera dalam protes antikuota di Bangladesh
Sekurang-kurangnya empat orang terbunuh dan puluhan lagi cedera dalam pertempuran antara pelajar yang memprotes sistem kuota dalam pekerjaan sektor awam dan polis di pelbagai bahagian Bangladesh pada Selasa.
Kerajaan cadang perkenal pembiayaan swasta
Kerajaan menyasarkan untuk memperkenalkan pembiayaan swasta alternatif bagi memastikan kemampanan kewangan program sektor air, sekali gus mengurangkan kebergantungan pada perbelanjaan kerajaan dan mengukuhkan daya tahan.
Saya tak fitnah Guan Eng, cuma jelaskan siasatan SPRM - Muhyiddin
Presiden Bersatu Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin memberitahu Mahkamah Tinggi Kuala Lumpur hari ini bahawa beliau tidak memfitnah Lim Guan Eng berhubung isu pengecualian cukai terhadap Yayasan Albukhary
KPT alu-alukan dapatan, cadangan PAC - Zambry
Ini termasuklah cadangan pelaksanaan Garis Panduan Pelaburan dan Pembiayaan oleh Universiti Awam 2024 kepada anak-anak syarikat di bawah seliaan Kementerian Pendidikan Tinggi (KPT).
Lebih 340,000 syarikat buat transaksi serah simpan maklumat pemunyaan benefisial
Sebanyak 340,637 syarikat telah membuat transaksi serah simpan maklumat pemunyaan benefisial (beneficial ownership) bagi tempoh 1 April hingga 14 Julai lepas.
Polis tunggu laporan makmal tentukan punca kematian Nur Farah Kartini
Polis sedang menunggu laporan makmal bagi menentukan punca kematian berhubung kes pembunuhan bekas penuntut Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Nur Farah Kartini Abdullah.