Paris attacks suspect Mohamed Abrini arrested in Belgium

Belgian authorities have arrested fugitive Paris attacks suspect Mohamed Abrini, local media have reported. A second suspect was also held during a police operation on 8 April, according to broadcaster VRT.

Federal prosecutors confirmed several arrests have been made in an anti-terror raid but did not release the identities of those targeted. Abrini, 31, has been on Europe's most wanted list since the 13 November shootings and bombings in the French capital.

The Belgian-Moroccan national was filmed with another suspect, Salah Abdeslam, at a petrol station on a highway to Paris on 11 November aboard a Renault Clio that was used in the attacks two days later. Abdeslam was captured in Brussels at the end of a four-month manhunt in March and is said to be cooperating with police.

Days after his arrest a series of suicide bombings claimed by the Islamic State (Isis) killed 32 people in the Belgian capital. Abrini is believed to have travelled to Syria after serving short stints in jail for petty crime and robberies.

His reported arrest comes a day after Belgian prosecutors appealed for information on an unidentified man who is believed to have played a role in the 22 March bombing at Brussels airport. The so-called 'man in the hat' was seen leaving the Zaventem terminal shortly after it was devastated by a twin explosion.

He was earlier captured on security camera walking inside the premises alongside the two suicide bombers named as Najim Laachraoui and Ibrahim el-Bakraoui.

Police have not identified the suspect and refused to say whether they believed the mysterious man was Abrini. Investigations have revealed the same network of Islamist militants was behind the attacks in both Paris and Brussels.