Suspect in Paris attacks arrested in Morocco

RABAT , Morocco, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- A suspect allegedly involved in the Nov. 13 series of attacks in Paris that killed 130 people, was arrested Monday in Mohammediya, Morocco, authorities said.

The male suspect was not identified by name, but was described as a Belgian national of Moroccan descent. A statement from the Moroccan Interior Ministry translated his initials as either "G.A." or "J.A." from Arabic.

The suspect was accused of traveling to Syria "with one of the suicide bombers of Saint-Denis," the Paris neighborhood where three people died during a raid on an apartment five days after the night of terror. The suspected leader of the terror operation, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, died in the shootout with police.

The ministry said the person arrested "built solid ties with Islamic State leaders, including the ringleader of the Paris attacks."

A number of suspects in the attacks were Belgian citizens, and investigators surmise the attacks were planned in Brussels. An international manhunt is underway for Salah Abdelsam, a French citizen, still at large, who is believed to have participated in the attacks.

Paris prosecutors and Belgian Federal Prosecutor Eric Van Der Sypt offered no comment on the news of the arrest in Morocco.