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French train attack suspect charged with terror and weapons offences

Francois Molins says an investigation had been opened into Moroccan Ayoub el Khazzani for attempted murder with terrorist intent
Francois Molins says an investigation had been opened into Moroccan Ayoub el Khazzani for attempted murder with terrorist intent

The Moroccan man suspected of launching an attack on a high-speed train in France last week has been charged with attempted murder of a terrorist nature, a judicial source has said.

Ayoub el Khazzani, 25, was remanded in custody, also charged with weapons offences and "participation in a terrorist association with a view to organising one or several damaging crimes," according to the prosecutor's submissions.

Earlier, French Prosecutor Francois Molins said the attack on the Amsterdam to Paris train was premeditated.

Mr Molins also dismissed his "far-fetched" assertion he wanted to rob passengers.

He said an investigation had been opened into 25-year-old Moroccan Ayoub el Khazzani for attempted murder with terrorist intent.

"Ayoub el Khazzani had watched YouTube audio files whilst already on the Thalys train in which an individual called on the faithful to fight and take up arms in the name of the Prophet," Mr Molins told a news conference.

It was also revealed by Mr Molins that Mr Khazzani returned to Europe from Turkey in June.

He flew from Antakya, Turkey to Tirana in Albania on 4 June, according to Mr Molins.

Mr Khazzani denied during interrogation that he had travelled to Turkey, which prosecutors believe may indicate he went to war-torn Syria.

Prosecutors also said he was carrying 270 bullets for his assault rifle and a bottle of petrol, in addition to a Luger pistol and a box-cutter.

Meanwhile as part of investigations into the attack, Belgian police raided two homes in a poor district of Brussels and took away some objects.

Belgian prosecutors said Mr Khazzani had boarded the train in Brussels and that they had opened a Belgian investigation.

They said they were cooperating with French authorities who are leading enquiries.

The prosecutor's office said two searches took place in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek as part of its hunt to find out where the suspect lived.       

14 suspected IS recruiters held in Morocco and Spain

Elsewhere, police in Morocco and Spain have arrested 14 people on suspicion of belonging to a network that recruited and sent fighters to the self-styled Islamic State group.

One suspect was detained in Spain while the other 13 were arrested in cities across Morocco, a Spanish interior ministry statement said, describing it as a "joint anti-terrorist operation".

"Those arrested formed part of a network whose main activity was to recruit and send foreign fighters to join the ranks of the terrorist organisation Daesh in regions of Syria and Iraq under its control," the statement said, using the main Arabic acronym for the group. 

The Spanish suspect was arrested in San Martin de la Vega, 30km south of Madrid, while the others were picked up in the Moroccan cities of Fez, Casablanca, Nador, Al Hoceima and Driouech.

"They wanted to replicate in Morocco and Spain the massacres carried out by Daesh members with the aim of creating a climate of fear and instability," it added.