The only surviving terrorist of the commando that attacked on November 13, 2015 in Paris, Salah Abdeslamhas offered his “apologies” and has asked the relatives of the victims to hate him but “in moderation”.
“I want to offer my condolences and apologies to all the victims (…) I know that the hatred remains. Today I ask you to hate me in moderation,” Abdeslam said during an interrogation before a French court, where he even shed some tears when offering his testimony.
This Friday has concluded the last interrogation of the only survivor of the Islamist commandwhere Abdeslam has come to recognize that he had planned to immolate himself in a bar in the 18th district of Paris, but that he decided to give up when he saw young people with whom he felt identified.
“I want to say today that this story of November 13 was written in the blood of the victims. It is his story, and I was part of it. They are linked to me and I am linked to them,” Abdeslam continued with a trembling voice.
On the other hand, Abdeslam has reiterated that he did not end the life of anyone and that, although he recognizes that he deserves what is happening to him, not willing to “pay” for those who did kill in the Bataclan room or in the vicinity of the Stade de France.
The sentence is not expected until the month of May and before that some of the main French authorities are called to testify when the attacks took place. The witness list includes the names of former President François Hollande, the former Minister of the Interior Bernard Cazenevue or former Paris prosecutor François Molins.
The November 2015 attacks are the deadliest terrorist episode in French history, with a total of 130 dead and more than 400 people injured. The Bataclan, the Stade de France and several central Paris streets were the scene of the attacks.