Salah Abdeslam: Paris attacker planned to blow himself up at Stade De France but 'changed his mind'
Abdeslam was caught alive after being shot in the leg by police during an anti-terror raid in Brussels on Friday
![An ambulance arrives during the raid in the Molenbeek where Salah Abdelslam was shot and inujured](https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2016/03/19/18/Abdeslam-jail-AP.jpg)
Your support helps us to tell the story
As your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.
Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn't have the resources to challenge those in power.
Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November election
![Head shot of Andrew Feinberg](https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/support-us/andrew-feinberg.png)
Andrew Feinberg
White House Correspondent
Salah Abdeslam planned to blow himself up during the Paris attacks but changed his mind, it has emerged.
The suspected Isis Jihadi was captured after being shot in the leg during an anti-terror raid in Brussels on Friday.
He is accused of helping to kill 130 people during the 13 November attacks in Paris and had been on the run for more than 120 days.
Abdeslam told investigators he had planned to blow himself up at the Stade de France, but changed his mind, the French prosecutor has said.
![Salah Abdeslam was arrested after being shot in the leg](https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2016/03/18/20/7-Abdeslam.jpg)
"Salah Abdesalam today during questioning by investigators affirmed that, and I quote, 'he wanted to blow himself up at the Stade de France and that he had backed down'," Francois Molins told reporters, adding that Abdeslam's initial statements should be treated with caution.
"His first statements, that we must take with precaution, leave unanswered a series of questions on which Abdeslam will have to explain, in particular, his presence in the 18th district of Paris on Nov. 13 at 22h (10 p.m.)," Molins said.
"He will also have to explain the reasons why he decided to finally abandon his suicide belt."
Abdeslam fled the attacks after removing his suicide bomb belt, which was found in a bin in the southern Paris suburb of Montrouge.
An hour after the attacks, he bought a SIM card from a shop in the 18th arondissment in northern Paris and called two friends in Brussels to pick him up.
After walking for nearly nine hours, he met them in Châtillon, a suburb on the other side of the city, around 7am.
Mr Molins said he played a "central role" in the planning and logistics in the attacks, citing several trips cross Europe in July, September, October and November.
He also said Abdeslam bought detonators and oxygenated water used for making explosives.
Abdeslam was eventually arrested after a dirty glass and a suspiciously large pizza order led police to his hideout.
A second man arrested in the raid, named as Soufyane Kayal, is said to be an associate of a terror suspect killed on Tuesday.
Belgian officials have officially charged Abdeslam and the other man, who was using two aliases, "with participation in terrorist murder".
Additional reporting by Reuters
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments