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Reuters

Salah Abdeslam, believed to be the sole surviving member of the group of Islamist militants that killed 130 people in a night of gun and bomb attacks in Paris in 2015, apologised to the victims during his trial on Friday, French media reported.
Investigators believe Abdeslam was part of the squad that assaulted six restaurants and bars, the Bataclan concert hall and the national soccer stadium.
Among the 20 defendants, he is the only one directly accused of murder, attempted murder and hostage taking.
He has denied the charges and is standing trial before a panel of judges.

“I want to present my condolences and my apologies to all the victims,” Abdeslam, 32, told the court in his final testimony, according to radio France Inter’s website.
It said Abdeslam cried as he addressed survivors of the attacks in the courtroom.
“I ask you to hate me with moderation … I ask you to forgive me. It will not heal you, but I know that good words can help, and if this helps even only one of the victims, it will be a victory for me,” France Inter quoted him as saying.
A French national of Moroccan origin, Abdeslam told the court in February he had backed out of detonating his explosive vest during the attack.
Survivors of 2015 Paris attacks relive horror in trial testimony
French media reported that during hearings this week he said he had decided not to do it “out of humanity”.
He has also said in earlier hearings that he did not know of the attack plot from the outset and that he bore no responsibility for the 130 deaths on the night of November 13, 2015.
Prosecutors allege that Abdeslam, a self-proclaimed Islamic State militant, made journeys across Europe in cars he hired to collect several of the would-be attackers who had returned from Syria.


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Paris terror attacks

Defendant Salah Abdeslam attends the Paris attacks trial in a temporary courtroom set up at the Palais de Justice courthouse in Paris on Thursday. Courtroom sketch: Benoit Peyrucq via AFP

French policemen stand in front of the Bataclan concert hall during a ceremony last year to pay tribute to victims on the anniversary of the November 13, 2015 terror attacks. Photo: TNS

Suspect in 2015 Paris attacks says deaths of 130 were ‘nothing personal’

Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the 2015 Paris attacks, is seen in a temporary courtroom set up at the Palais de Justice of Paris on Wednesday. Courtroom sketch: Benoit Peyrucq via AFP

TOPSHOT - French Gendarmes escort a convoy understood to be transporting Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks, from the Fleury-Merogis prison in the southern suburbs of Paris, to the Palais de Justice of Paris - Paris' courthouse, on September 8, 2021, for the start of the trial of the November 2015 Paris attacks' defendants. - The biggest trial in France's modern legal history begins on September 8, 2021 over the November 2015 attacks on Paris that saw 130 people killed at bars, restaurants and the Bataclan concert hall. The suicide bombing and gun assault by three teams of jihadists, planned from Syria and later claimed by the Islamic State group, was France's worst post-war atrocity. (Photo by Thomas COEX / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on November 16, 2015 (FILES) from the February 2015 issue 7 of the Islamic State (IS) group online English-language magazine Dabiq, purportedly shows 27-year-old Belgian IS group leading militant Abdelhamid Abaaoud, also known as Abu Umar al-Baljiki and believed to be the mastermind of a jihadist cell dismantled in Belgium in January 2015, posing at an undisclosed location to illustrate an interview he gave to the magazine, claiming to have rejoined the extremist group in Syria. - The trial of the November 13, 2015 attacks in France, will start on September 8, 2021, with the 14 defendants present, including Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving member of the commandos who struck Paris and the suburban town of Saint-Denis, killing 131 people and injuring hundreds on the terraces of bars, in the Bataclan theatre, and at the Stade de France. (Photo by - / DABIQ / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE -

France opens trial over 2015 Paris attacks, with main suspect saying he is ‘an Islamic State soldier’

Policemen secure the courthouse in Paris as the trial over the November 2015 terrorist attacks begins inside. Photo: EPA-EFE

This court-sketch made on September 8, 2021 shows Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks, standing on the first day of the trial of the November 2015 Paris attacks' taking place in a temporary courtroom set up for the proceedings at the Palais de Justice of Paris - Paris' historic courthouse, on September 8, 2021. - The biggest trial in France's modern legal history begins on September 8, 2021 over the November 2015 attacks on Paris that saw 130 people killed at the Stade de France, bars, restaurants and the Bataclan concert hall. The suicide bombing and gun assault by three teams of jihadists, planned from Syria and later claimed by the Islamic State group, was France's worst post-war atrocity. (Photo by Benoit PEYRUCQ / AFP)

epa09455273 Olivia Ronen, lawyer of Salah Abdeslam, in the courtroom attending the trial over 2015 terrorist attacks at the courthouse in Paris, France, 08 September 2021. The trial over the 13 November 2015 terrorist attacks is set to begin on 08 September and will last nine months. 130 people were killed and hundreds were injured in a series of coordinated attacks targeting the Bataclan concert hall, the Stade de France national sports stadium, and several restaurants and bars. EPA-EFE/IAN LANGSDON

Five years after Paris attacks, France still traumatised and remains on edge

French Prime Minister Jean Castex and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo lay a wreath outside the Bataclan concert venue on Friday. Photo: Reuters

epa08817752 People walk as they hold flowers to put outside the Bataclan concert venue, in Paris, France, 13 November 2020, as part of commemorations across Paris marking the fifth anniversary of the terror attacks of November 2015 in which 130 people were killed by radical islamists. EPA-EFE/Mohammed Badra

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Salah Abdeslam is believed to be the sole surviving member of the group of Islamist militants that killed 130 people in the French capital in 2015
Among the 20 defendants facing trial for the attacks, he is the only one directly accused of murder, attempted murder and hostage taking



Salah Abdeslam is believed to be the sole surviving member of the group of Islamist militants that killed 130 people in the French capital in 2015.


Paris attacks suspect cries as he apologises to victims, asks for forgiveness

Salah Abdeslam is believed to be the sole surviving member of the group of Islamist militants that killed 130 people in the French capital in 2015 Among the 20 defendants facing trial for the attacks, he is the only one directly accused of murder, attempted murder and hostage taking

Salah Abdeslam is believed to be the sole surviving member of the group of Islamist militants that killed 130 people in the French capital in 2015

Among the 20 defendants facing trial for the attacks, he is the only one directly accused of murder, attempted murder and hostage taking