The Islamist assassins in Brussels actually wanted to strike in Paris in 2016 and not in the Belgian capital. One of the main defendants in the trial of the Brussels attacks that killed 32 people, Mohamed Abrini, testified in court on Thursday. “The original plan was to meet Paris during the European Football Championship and not Belgium,” said Abrini.

During his interrogation before the Brussels Court of Assizes, the 38-year-old Abrini confirmed information that he had already given to the Belgian investigators after his arrest a few years ago. The Islamists then wanted to hit Paris for the second time during the Euro from June 2016, just over six months after the series of attacks on November 13, 2015 that killed 130 people.

Replacement plan in Brussels

But this plan fell through “after the arrest of Salah Abdeslam,” Abrini said. Abdeslam is considered the only survivor of the Paris attacks and is currently on trial in Brussels as the suspected man behind it. Abrini said the terrorist cell then alternatively targeted Brussels Airport and the metro on March 22, 2016.

Abrini also explained in court why he did not blow himself up at Brussels airport, unlike two other suicide bombers. He saw women and children in the queue and therefore shied away from the crime at the last moment. “I told them I wasn’t doing it,” Abrini said.

The Belgian with a Moroccan double passport faces a life sentence in the process. A total of nine suspects have been charged with “murder and attempted terrorist murder” in Brussels. Abdeslam, 33, had previously been sentenced to life imprisonment in France for the 2015 attacks. He denies the allegations of the Belgian investigators.