Police officers and security staff armed with snipers have surrounded a building in Belgium as authorities close in on one of the key suspects in Friday’s Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam.
Authorities are are unable to confirm whether Abdeslam is inside the building in the Molenbeek district.
Abdeslam, 26, rented a car used to carry gunmen to the Bataclan music venue in Paris which became the scene of a massacre.
The arrest warrant for the 26-year-old – brother of bomber Brahim – describes him as very dangerous and warns people not to intervene if they see him.
Police already had him in their grasp early on Saturday, when they stopped a car carrying three men near the Belgian border.
By then, hours had passed since authorities identified Abdeslam as the renter of a Volkswagen Polo that carried hostage takers to the Paris theatre where so many died.
Three French police officials and a top French security official confirmed that officers let Abdeslam go after checking his ID.
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Its statement mocked France’s air attacks on suspected IS targets in Syria and Iraq, and called Paris “the capital of prostitution and obscenity”.
Meanwhile, Paris remains on edge amid three days of official mourning. French troops have deployed by the thousands and tourist sites remain shuttered in one of the most visited cities on Earth.
Panic ensued on Sunday night as police abruptly cleared hundreds of mourners from the famed Place de la Republique square, where police said firecrackers sparked a false alarm.
“Whoever starts running starts everyone else running,” said Alice Carton, city council member who was at the square. “It’s a very weird atmosphere. The sirens and screaming are a source of fear.”