Belgian Police Knew of Abdeslam Brothers But Ignored Them - French Watchdog

Belgian police knew that Abdeslam brothers were plotting an "irreversible" act in Paris a year before the November 13 attack shocked Paris, but chose not to act, a US journalist group said Friday citing a report by a Belgian police watchdog.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The top-secret report by Belgian parliament’s Comite P leaked to Politico revealed that by mid-2014 the Belgians had collected portfolios full of leads on Brahim and Salah Abdeslam, who later took part in the Paris attacks.

Brahim blew himself up at a cafe in Paris while Salah, a French national born in Brussels, disposed of his explosive load and fled to Belgium where he was detained in March, four days before the Brussels terror attacks.

The study highlighted lack of action on behalf of Belgian police and officials despite early reports of the brothers’ radicalization and clues on their links to Paris attacks mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud.

The police anti-terror unit said it could not establish which one of the brothers was involved. The watchdog pointed out that both already featured in the police database.

"Nothing was done with the dossiers <…> Consequently, up until the attacks in Paris nothing happened," the report said.

Commenting on the revelation, former US intelligence contractor and surveillance critic Edward Snowden said police were too busy spying on everyone else to prevent the Paris attacks, which killed 130 people and injured hundreds.