World

Suspect in Train Attack to Speak to French Investigators

Wednesday, December 14, 2016 9:04 am | < 1 Minute Read

In this Aug. 22, 2015 photo, a police investigator walks next to a Thalys train on the platform at Arras train station, northern France. The Belgian Federal Prosecutor's Office on Monday, June 20, 2016 announced that six houses have been searched and six persons have been taken in for questioning in connection with the incident on the train on Aug. 21, 2015, in which a gunman prepared to open fire with an automatic weapon before being subdued by passengers. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File) — In this Aug. 22, 2015 photo, a police investigator walks next to a Thalys train on the platform at Arras train station, northern France, a day after an attack in which a gunman prepared to open fire with an automatic weapon before being subdued by passengers. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)

The main suspect in the case of a high-speed train attack thwarted by three Americans last year in northern France has asked to speak to counterterrorism judges in Paris.

His lawyer and the Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed that Ayoub El Khazzani will be questioned Wednesday afternoon.

El Khazzani, a 26-year-old Moroccan jailed outside Paris, has so far refused to answer judges’ questions. But, for the first time, “he is now ready to talk about everything,” lawyer Sarah Mauger-Poliak told The Associated Press before the hearing.

In August 2015, on a Paris-bound Thalys express train, El Khazzani allegedly tried to open fire with an assault rifle but was overpowered by a group of passengers, including three Americans who were then awarded the Legion of Honor, France’s highest decoration.

To Read The Full Story