国际英语新闻:Still many people sought over Paris attacks: prosecutors

BRUSSELS, March 21 (Xinhua) -- "Many people" are still being sought by investigators in connection with the Paris terror attacks, the French and Belgian public prosecutors said in a joint press conference on Monday.

Belgian federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw and Paris public prosecutor Francois Molins spoke to the media in Brussels following the arrest on Friday of Salah Abdeslam over the November attacks in which 130 people were killed.

Van Leeuw told reporters: "The investigation is not over. Other individuals need to be found," adding, "We have a lot of pieces of the puzzle but we are still far from having completed the puzzle. We are working on clues and trying to find evidence."

Molins said: "We are far from having all the pieces. There are still many people who are sought and who must explain themselves."

Both prosecutors stressed the importance of Franco-Belgian co-operation in the ongoing investigation.

Van Leeuw said: "We have a very close collaboration with the anti-terrorist section of the Paris prosecutor's office. We are faced with groups of people who are not restricted by borders but who are often linked by language, for example French."

Abdeslam's lawyer, Sven Mary, announced on Saturday that his client planned to sue Molins, accusing him of leaking elements of his testimony.

Regarding the accusation, the Paris prosecutor told reporters on Monday: "We have the opportunity to express ourselves according to our own procedural rules. These rules require the prosecutor to respect the secrecy of the investigation, but allow the prosecutor to provide objective information to correct erroneous information and to prevent the spread of unfounded rumours."

Molins said he could not confirm whether Abdeslam had intended to carry out other attacks. He said a Franco-Belgian team was working together on 15 criminal investigations.