Officials: Manhunt for suspected Paris attacker on the run

This undated file photo provided by French Police shows 26-year old Salah Abdeslam, who is wanted by police in connection with recent terror attacks in Paris, as police investigations continue Friday, Nov. 13, 2015. French police released the wanted notice and photo of the suspect on the run since the attacks in Paris on Friday. The notice, released on the France National Police Twitter account, says anyone seeing Salah Abdeslam, should consider him dangerous.
This undated file photo provided by French Police shows 26-year old Salah Abdeslam, who is wanted by police in connection with recent terror attacks in Paris, as police investigations continue Friday, Nov. 13, 2015. French police released the wanted notice and photo of the suspect on the run since the attacks in Paris on Friday. The notice, released on the France National Police Twitter account, says anyone seeing Salah Abdeslam, should consider him dangerous.

UPDATE:

PARIS — Four French officials have told The Associated Press that police questioned and released the fugitive suspect hours after the Paris attacks.

The questioning came when police pulled over a car near the Belgian border, hours after authorities had already identified Saleh Abdeslam as the renter of a Volkswagen Polo that was abandoned at the scene of the attack.

Abdeslam is now the focus of an international manhunt. One of his brothers detonated a suicide vest in central Paris and another was ultimately detained in Belgium.

He was one of three people in a car stopped by police Saturday morning, hours after the attacks that left at least 129 dead, the officials said.

Three French police officials and a top French security official confirmed all that officers stopped Abdeslam and checked his ID and then let him go.

The officials spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly disclose details of the investigation.

EARLIER:

PARIS — French police put out a photo of a fugitive in the Paris attacks on Sunday, saying the suspect is on the run and too dangerous for anyone outside law enforcement to engage directly.

Police identified the man suspected of renting the car that delivered attackers to the Bataclan concert hall as Salah Abdeslam, a 26-year-old born in Brussels. "Do not intervene yourself," warns the message issued Sunday evening.

Abdeslam is thought to be directly involved in Friday's attacks, which killed 129 people and wounded hundreds in the worst violence in France in decades, French security officials said.

He is one of three brothers believed to be involved in the killings; one was arrested in Belgium and another died in the attack, the first official said.

Abdeslam rented the black Volkswagen Polo used by the group of hostage-takers that left at least 89 people dead inside the Bataclan, another official said. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

Seven people were detained Sunday in Belgium in connection with deadly attacks in Paris as the city entered three days of mourning for the 129 people killed in the worst violence in France in decades.

French troops deployed by the thousands and tourist sites were shuttered in one of the most visited cities on Earth as more details of the investigation emerged.

photo

This undated file photo released Friday, Nov. 13, 2015, by French Police shows 26-year old Salah Abdeslam, who is wanted by police in connection with recent terror attacks in Paris, as police investigations continue. The notice, released on the national police Twitter account, says anyone seeing Salah Abdeslam, should consider him dangerous and call authorities immediately. The notice reads in French: "Call for witnesses - Police are hunting a suspect : Salah Abdeslam, born on Sept. 15, 1989 Brussels, Belgium. ...Dangerous individual don't intervene yourself".

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