THE HAGUE - European police forces Friday launched a ‘most wanted’ website of 45 notorious criminal suspects, including Belgian-born Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in last year’s Paris attacks.
‘The website will share information on high-profile internationally-wanted criminals, convicted of - or suspected of having committed - serious crimes or terrorist acts in Europe,’ Europol said.
‘This is the first initiative on a pan-European level to jointly present a most wanted list on a common platform,’ the European police agency added in a statement. People are encouraged to provide tip-offs - anonymously if they want - at www.eumostwanted.eu
The site’s launch comes after sharp criticism of the coordination between European authorities in the wake of the November 13 jihadist Paris attacks in which 130 people were killed. Despite some of the assailants being sought by police they managed to cross into France unnoticed.
Abdeslam fled back across the border to Belgium hours after the mass killings, after passing through a police checkpoint.
Europol said the website aimed ‘at increasing security’ across the European Union by having the public ‘help police trace Europe’s most wanted fugitives’.
Each of the nations initially involved, 23 of the 28 EU members, will select a number of key fugitives for the list, which will be regularly updated, the agency added.` On the new website a picture of each of the suspects is prominently displayed, along with a description of the allegations against them and a phone number of the police force hunting for them.
Abdeslam, 26, is ‘responsible for the terrorist attacks that took place in November 2015 in France, and more precisely in Paris,’ the website says. He is described as a ‘very dangerous, armed individual.’