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France Terror Suspect also Sought by Belgium | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Members of the French RAID police unit leave after searching the home of one of two men arrested in Marseille. AFP


Paris- Belgium’s federal prosecutor said Wednesday that a man held in France over a foiled plot to stage an attack ahead of the first round of France’s presidential election was also sought by Belgian authorities.

Clement Baur, 23, was one of two people detained on Sunday in the southern city of Marseille and authorities said he had plotted an “imminent and violent attack”.

“Clement B. was wanted for questioning. However, there has been no trace of him in Belgium since the end of 2015,”
Belgium’s federal prosecutor said, according to Reuters.

The prosecutor added Belgium had cooperated with French authorities to find Baur, without giving further details.

It also did not say why he was wanted in Belgium.

French investigators were trying Wednesday to piece together the backgrounds of Baur and Mahiedine Merabet, 29, who were detained by elite police and domestic intelligence agents in Marseille.

Police had been searching for them since April 12 following the interception of a video in which the men pledged allegiance to ISIS.

It has emerged that they had used a number of aliases, switched mobile phones frequently and used pre-paid bank cards to evade police.

“It took a while to find them,” said a source close to the investigation.

In the apartment they shared, police found a loaded Uzi sub-machine gun, two pistols, TATP explosives and a homemade grenade.

An ISIS flag was also discovered.