Investigators discover links between Brussels, Paris attacks
Why the problem is bigger than ISIS
The man detained by French police in an anti-terror raid outside Paris Thursday night had been wanted since January and reportedly is connected to the suspected ringleader of last November's terror attacks in the French capital.
The Associated Press, citing two French officials, identified the suspect as Reda Kriket, 34. He was arrested in Argenteuil, on the northern outskirts of Paris.
A Belgian official told AP that Kriket had been convicted in absentia in July along with Abaaoud and others for being part of a network that recruited fighters for ISIS in Syria.
At the time of Kriket's arrest Thursday, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazenueve said there was no evidence "at this stage" to tie the suspect to either the attacks in Paris or Tuesday's suicide bombings in Brussels that killed at least 31 people and wounded 250 others.
A Belgian soldier on patrol in Brussels after Tuesday's terror attacks. (Fox News)
Cazeneuve did say that the suspect was involved at a "high level" in a plot to attack France that was in the "advanced stages."
Authorities had previously identified Abaaoud as the ringleader of the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris. He died in a police raid five days later.
At roughly the same time as Kriket's arrest, six people were apprehended during anti-terror operations in the Brussels suburb of Schaerbeek, the same area where an ISIS flag and a bomb containing nails were found after the attacks earlier this week.
Investigators could be seen carrying what appeared to be bags of evidence from at least one of the raid sites.
The raids came as Belgium lowered its terror threat level by one notch although authorities said the situation remained "grave" and another attack was "likely and possible."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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