A PARIS terror attack suspect now on trial says he is a "soldier of the Islamic state".
Abdeslam is among 20 men on trial accused of being involved in the 2015 atrocities at the Bataclan music theatre and other venues. But just who is the 28-year-old French national?
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Salah Abdeslam appeared in court in 2018 for the first time since his dramatic arrest Credit: Reuters Who is Salah Abdeslam?
Born on September 15 , 1989, Abdeslam is a 31 year old Belgium-born French national of Moroccan descent.
Abdeslam's family have lived in Belgium since the 1960s but have French nationality from when his parents lived in Algeria.
He was a bar manager at his brother's bar in Brussels, but sold it about six weeks before the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people on November 13, 2015.
Among the nine attackers involved in the attack was Abdeslam’s brother, Brahim Abdeslam, 31, who blew himself up inside a packed restaurant.
Following an extensive manhunt, Abdeslam was arrested in an anti-terror police raid on a flat in the Forest areas of Brussels.
He was Europe's most wanted man during that time, evading capture for 126 days.
He was finally arrested during a police shootout, when he was shot through the leg and captured.
Abdeslam has also been linked to an Isis attack in Brussels on March 22, 2016, when a total of 32 people were killed in coordinated suicide attacks on the city’s airport and an underground train station, but no formal charges have been made against him.
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Abdeslam has announced his intention to remain silent for the duration of the trial Credit: AFP or licensors What is he accused of?
Abdeslam appeared in court on Wednesday. September 8, 2021.
He has been charged with "participation in terrorist murder and participation in the activities of a terrorist organization" relating to the Paris terror attacks.
Abdeslam is already serving a 20 year sentence for attempted murder following a shootout with police during a raid in Brussels in 2016.
At the time Abdeslam refused to talk to even his own lawyers, and in court he announced that he would remain silent throughout the four-day process.
He was found guilty of attempted murder and possession of weapons.
Who else is on trial with Salah Abdeslam?
A total of 20 defendants in the case face accusations including providing logistical support, planning the attacks and weapons offenses. Six of them are being tried in absentia.
Belgian investigators had identified a suspect in this case as one of the killers of a Jordanian pilot burned alive in a cage by Isis in early 2015 in Syria.
Sweden is also investigating his alleged involvement in war crimes.
If convicted, 12 of the defendants could face life sentences.
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What happened at his sentencing in Belgium?
Abdeslam, the sole surviving suspect from the 2015 Paris attacks, was jailed for 20 years in Belgium over a gunfight that led to his arrest.
Abdeslam and co-defendant Sofien Ayari were both convicted of terror-related charges of attempted murder - they were both convicted in their absence.
Ayari, 24, was also given a 20-year sentence after both men fired on officers who raided a flat in Brussels in 2016.
Abdeslam was being held in a jail in France ahead of his 2021 trial over the Paris attacks themselves.
He refused to answer questions from the judge in the trial in Brussels, and eventually refused to attend the hearings.
New video of Salah Abdeslam's arrest
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