‘Man in the hat’ from Brussels attacks charged in France

PARIS – Mohamed Abrini, the ‘man in the hat’ who escaped from the Brussels airport just before a deadly suicide attack there has been charged in France over links to the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris.

The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed that Abrini was charged Monday with belonging to a terrorist organization, complicity in explosives manufacturing and transportation, and other allegations linked to the Nov. 13, 2015, attacks that left 130 people dead in Paris.

Abrini, a Belgian, is accused of a role in the Islamic State cell that also attacked Brussels on March 22. Surveillance cameras filmed him alongside two suicide bombers who later detonated their explosives in the Brussels airport.

He is jailed in Belgium but was remanded to France for the day Monday.