Police release video of attack suspect

Investigators looking for a discarded jacket which may give them 'invaluable information'

Belgian prosecutors launched a fresh appeal on Thursday for help in finding the suspected surviving attacker of last month's Brussels airport bombings, releasing a video of the escape route taken by the so-called "man in the hat".

Police have been desperately searching for the third suspect ever since he was seen on CCTV next to the two suicide bombers who blew themselves up at the airport in coordinated attacks that also struck a Brussels metro station. A total of 32 people died.

A suspect in the attack which took place at the Brussels international airport is seen in this CCTV image. Belgian Federal Police via Reuters

The newly released police video shows the man, wearing a dark hat and a light-colored jacket, fleeing the airport's departure hall after the bombs went off at 07:58 am on March 22.

CCTV footage shows him continuing his route on foot toward central Brussels where surveillance cameras lose track of him at 09:50 am.

Along the way, the fugitive discarded his jacket and at one point appears to be on the phone.

"We especially appeal to anyone who might have filmed or think they have photographed the suspect," spokesman Eric Van der Sypt said.

Investigators are urgently looking for the jacket, described in the statement accompanying the video as light "with a hood which is dark inside".

"Should this jacket be found, this might give invaluable information to the investigators."

Potential witnesses were asked to contact the police using a designated phone number and e-mail address. Last week police asked all residents and business owners in the Brussels region who have external surveillance cameras not to delete any footage from March 15 onward.

Belgian authorities have been criticized for not doing enough to tackle the rise in homegrown extremism, as close links have emerged between the Brussels attackers and those behind the Paris terror assaults in November which left 130 dead.

Both attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group.

Progress made

A committee of French lawmakers probing the two major terror strikes in Paris last year met in Brussels with Belgian and European counterterrorism officials on Thursday.

Georges Fenech, who presides over the group, said that "it is important to make progress on cooperation" between France and Belgium, especially on intelligence sharing and criminal law policy.

The sole surviving suspect in the Paris carnage, Salah Abdeslam, was arrested in Brussels on March 18, just around the corner from his family home, after four months on the run.

He is currently being held in a prison in the northern Belgian city of Bruges, where he is awaiting extradition to France.

He has told investigators he planned to blow himself up outside the Stade de France on Nov 13, but changed his mind.

His lawyer Sven Mary on Thursday said it would be "several weeks" before his client could be transferred to France, as Belgian investigators still want to question him about a police raid at a Brussels apartment on March 15.

The attacks have exposed a complex network of cross-border jihadist cells, putting pressure on European security forces to improve cooperation.

AFP - Reuters