Paris November 2015 Attacks Suspect Abdeslam: I Support Daesh and I Love Them

The shooting and bomb attacks that occurred in the French capital in November of 2015, were the deadliest in France since World War II. Some 130 people were killed and over 400 injured when terrorists detonated suicide vests and shot people in the French capital Paris.

Salah Abdeslam, the main suspect in a series of coordinated Paris attacks in November 2015, has told a court that he supported and loved the terrorist organisation Daesh*.

"For me, the Western world imposes its ideology and its values on the rest of the world. We see that in many Arab and Muslim countries, Western values take precedence over Islamic values. For us Muslims, it is a humiliation. I support the Islamic State and I love them because they are there every day, they fight, they sacrifice themselves", he said.

Abdeslam emphasised that he "didn't kill" or "hurt anyone". "I didn't make even a scratch. It is important for me to say this, because since the beginning of this affair, I have not stopped being slandered".

The 32-year-old has previously called himself "a soldier of Daesh" and rejected the notion that he and other individuals involved in the attacks were terrorists.

He justified the murder of 130 people killed in the November 2015 attacks as revenge for France's military campaign in Syria. Abdeslam claimed French warplanes did not distinguish between men, women, and children, stressing that the country's leadership, including then-President Francois Hollande, knew the risks they were taking when attacking the terrorist group in Syria.

Abdelsam also claimed that he backed out of detonating his explosive vest during the coordinated assault.

"I experienced a situation that not many people have experienced, people who took a step back, who changed their minds. You're there in prison, you say to yourself, 'I should have triggered the thing'. That's what you think when you're in solitary confinement", he told the court.

The ongoing trial is the biggest in France's modern history. While 20 individuals are being tried, Salah Abdeslam is the chief suspect. Prosecutors believe Salah Abdeslam is the only surviving member of Daesh who was involved in the attacks. Born in Belgium into a family of Moroccan immigrants, he is accused of transporting two terrorists who detonated suicide vests near a stadium.

The young man himself wore a suicide vest, but prosecutors believe it malfunctioned, prompting Abdeslam to flee the scene. He then became the target of a huge manhunt in Europe, one of the biggest in modern history. The criminal was captured in Brussels months after the attack during a shootout with police officers.

Prosecutors are trying to establish how the terrorists managed to smuggle weapons and explosives and avoid being detected by the nation's counter-terrorism and intelligence agencies. However, Abdeslam has largely refused to respond to investigators.

He previously tried to defend three other individuals involved in the attack, saying they helped him, but knew nothing at all [about the plot to attack the city]. "They are in prison but did nothing", he said.

The hit squad, consisting of ten terrorists, first targeted the Stade de France, which was hosting a friendly football game between France and Germany that was attended by then-President Francois Hollande.

The assailants then travelled to two busy districts of Paris, where they began shooting at people before attacking a packed concert hall called Bataclan. Some 130 people died as a result of the attacks and over 400 were injured. Nine of the attackers died either after being shot by law enforcement or blowing themselves up.

*Daesh (ISIL/ISIS/Islamic State) is a terrorist group banned in Russia and a number of other countries.