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Salah Abdeslam under suicide watch in French jail

11:20 09/11/2017

French authorities have confirmed that terrorist suspect Salah Abdeslam is on suicide watch as he awaits a trip to Belgium next month to stand trial for attempted murder. The charges stem from a shootout with police officers during his arrest in Molenbeek in March of 2016.

Abdeslam (pictured) is the only surviving suspect of the November 2015 terrorist attacks on Paris, which killed 130 people and injured more than 400. He is currently being kept in solitary confinement in Fleury-Mérogis, just south of Paris.

The 28-year-old’s arrest is believed to had led to the timing of the terrorist attacks at Brussels Airport  and Maalbeek metro station on 22 March 2016. Thirty-two people were killed in the twin attacks, and more than 300 were injured.

France’s justice minister confirmed that Abdeslam is under a 24-hour watch as his psychological state suggests that he is at risk for a suicide attempt. “We are doing everything we can to prevent that,” said minister Nicole Belloubet. “We want to see him face due process.”

Abdeslam was born in Brussels but is a French national.

Written by Lisa Bradshaw