Brussels Attack Suspect Abrini Reveals Details of Zaventem Airport Bombing Plot

A few weeks before the opening of the trial of the Brussels attacks scheduled for October, Mohamed Abrini, "the man in the hat", gives his testimony. In his interrogations, he says he learned on March 21 that there was going to be a group that was going to "hit" Zaventem and that he had shaved on March 21 so as not to be recognized, reports La Dernière Heure. That day, his day starts at 6:45 am. He and the other defendants are getting ready. Once the luggage is loaded into a taxi, "they enter the airport together". On site, they have a drink at the Délifrance, recounts Mohamed Abrini. They had just seen police officers near the Starbucks.

"I had a coffee and Ibrahim a bottle of water and Najim didn’t take anything. We were sitting. Najim then made the connection of the bombs. The trolleys were next to us. He went around the table to arm them," he explains. He says he panicked just after the bombs were activated: "Once the bombs were activated, I started to panic. It’s normal, it’s completely unstable. It’s dangerous. Najim comes back to sit at the table. [...] I also remember that at the table, I had asked Najim what about the numbers he had retained. He had said that 17 were the USA, 15 Russia and 5 or 7 Israel."

The cell had targeted passengers traveling to these destinations. "I was supposed to leave first for the US line. I told Najim that I didn’t think I could follow them. Ibrahim told me he was going to go himself and he activated it." In total, 11 people die on the spot. The cell is about to activate a second bomb. "I was really scared and even more than all the people, because I knew there was going to be a second bomb, I knew there were nails in the bombs, I was in a panic, because I was afraid that nails would come in my bag and make it explode."

Mohamed claims he did not want to disarm his bomb. "I even wanted to flee before the explosions, but I couldn’t do it. These are people with whom there is no way to talk, to tell them to drop it and stay calm." Is he full of remorse? "But understand that in the situation I was in, it was impossible to warn anyone of what was going to happen. You have to understand," justifies the one who was sentenced to life imprisonment for his involvement in the Paris attacks.