Brussels museum shooting suspect planned a Paris attack
He was also identified as one of the captors of four French journalists in Syria.
PARIS
The Frenchman suspected of killing four in the Brussels Jewish Museum attack in May was planning an attack on Paris during a 14 July national holiday parade, French newspaper Liberation claimed on Monday.
The attack was planned to take place in Champs Elysee during the country's national holiday parade in the presence of President Francois Hollande and high-ranking officials, according to the daily.
Mehdi Nemmouche, 29, reportedly bragged that the attack would be five times as deadly as the attack carried out by Mohamed Merah, the gunman who killed seven people, including three children in a Jewish school in Toulouse, in March 2012.
However, the Paris prosecutor's office in charge of the investigation into Nemmouche denied having evidence for a planned attack on France on July 14.
"Merah times five," was how he referred to the planned attack, says the French daily, which adds that it relied on "multiple sources" for the information. This includes four French journalists held hostage in Syria where Nemmouche was one of the captors.
According to the French daily, it relied on "multiple sources" - access to audio of the four French journalists who were released from captivity in Syria on April 20.
Didier Francois, Nicolas Henin, Peter Torres and Edward Elias held in Syria between July and December 2013 - identify Nemmouche as one of their captors.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Henin, said he recognized Nemmouche from a video shown to him as part of an investigation.
Henin was held hostage for 10 months, along with journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, who were later beheaded.
Nemmouche was arrested six days after the attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels.
He is in custody in Belgium, waiting to appear on September 12 before a Brussels judge who will decide whether to extend his preventive detention.
