BRUSSELS – The only suspected participant in November 13
Paris attacks to be captured alive has been cooperating with police
investigators and is “worth his weight in gold”, his lawyer said on
Monday.

Belgium’s Interior Minister Jan Jambon said the country
was on high alert for a possible revenge attack following the capture of
26-year-old Salah Abdeslam in a flat in Brussels on Friday.

“We know that stopping one cell can …push others
into action. We are aware of it in this case,” he told public radio.

French investigator Francois Molins told a news conference
in Paris on Saturday Abdeslam had admitted to investigators he had wanted to
blow himself up along with others at the Stade de France on the night of the
attack claimed by Islamic State; but he later backed out.

Abdeslam’s lawyer Sven Mary said he would sue Molins for
making the comment public, calling it a violation of judicial confidentiality.

Mary said Abdeslam was now fully cooperating with
investigators.

“I think that Salah Abdeslam is of prime importance
for this investigation. I would even say he is worth his weight in gold. He is
collaborating. He is communicating. He is not maintaining his right to remain
silent,” Mary told Belgian public broadcaster RTBF.

MORE
OPERATIONS PLANNED?

As the only suspected participant or planner of the Paris
attack in police custody, Abdeslam would be seen by investigators as a possible
major source of information on others involved, in support networks, finance
and links with Islamic State in Syria. There would also be urgent interest in
finding out what further attacks might be planned.

Belgian prosecutors said in a statement they were looking
for Najim Laachraoui, 25, using the false name of Soufiane Kayal. His DNA had
been found in houses in Belgium used by the Paris attackers.

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said on Sunday
that Abdeslam may have been plotting more operations drawing on a weapons
discovered in the Forest district of Brussels and a network of associates.

Jambon said he could not confirm that, but it was a
possibility.

“After 18 months of dealing with this terrorist
issue, I have learned that when the terrorists and weapons are in the same
place, and that’s what we saw in Forest, we are close to an attack. I’m not
saying it is evidence. But yes, there are indications,” he said.

Reynders said Belgium and France had so far found around
30 people involved in the gun and bomb attacks on bars, a sports stadium and a
concert hall in the French capital.

– Reuters