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Paris attacker had nuclear research center documents in apartment

By Andrew V. Pestano
Salah Abdeslam, seen here in a wanted poster, had documents on a German nuclear research center stored in his Brussels apartment. He is accused of taking part in the Islamic States attacks in Paris that killed 130 people and wounded many more. Photo courtesy of Belgian Police
Salah Abdeslam, seen here in a wanted poster, had documents on a German nuclear research center stored in his Brussels apartment. He is accused of taking part in the Islamic States attacks in Paris that killed 130 people and wounded many more. Photo courtesy of Belgian Police

BRUSSELS, April 14 (UPI) -- Recently captured Islamic State militant Salah Abdeslam, the lone surviving suspect in the Paris attacks, had documents on a German nuclear research center in his apartment.

Abdeslam, 26, was captured in Brussels after a four-month-long manhunt following the November 13 Islamic State attacks in Paris that killed 130 people.

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The documents were on Germany's Juelich nuclear research center, which is about 20 miles from Germany's border with Belgium. Atomic waste is stored in Juelich but the site's reactor was previously decommissioned.

Documents found in Abdeslam's apartment in the Brussels district of Molenbeek include photos of the chairman of the research center, Wolfgang Marquardt, and photos of the center, along with other print-outs.

German officials said that all nuclear plants in Germany are safe from attacks, adding there was is no indication that the Juelich center is in any danger.

Abdeslam, who was born and raised in Belgium to Moroccan parents, was arrested four days before the Islamic State bombings in Brussels, where 32 people were killed by three suicide bombers who detonated at Brussels Airport in Zaventem and at the Maelbeek subway station.

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After the Brussels bombings on March 22 the Tihange nuclear power plant in Belgium was evacuated, fearing a possible attack. A few days later, a security guard who worked at the Doel nuclear plant was killed and his security pass was stolen.

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