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ByRafCasertand John-Thor Dahlburg The Associated Press BRUSSELS ThearrestFri- day of five men suspected of links to the Brussels bombings, including the last known fugitive in last year's Paris attacks, raised new questions about the extent of the Islamic State cell believed to have carried out the intertwined attacks that left 162 people dead in two countries. After weeks of specu- lation about a mysterious "man in the hat" who es- caped the Brussels attacks while three suicide bomb- ers blew themselves up, authorities were checking whether that man was in- deed Mohamed Abrini, the last identified suspect at large from the Paris at- tacks until Friday. Another man arrested in a series of raids, identified as Osama K. by Belgian authorities, was linked to the Nov. 13 Paris attacks by French authorities on March 22, hours after the Belgium attacks. Abrini and Osama K. are now suspected of playing a role in the two biggest at- tacks carried out by the Is- lamic State group in Europe over the past year, killing 130 people in Paris and 32 in Brussels. French authori- ties renewed their call to ar- rest an armed and danger- ous Abrini within hours of the Brussels attacks. "We are investigating if Abrini can be positively identified as the third per- son present during the at- tacks in Brussels National Airport, the so called 'man in the hat,'" said prosecutor Eric Van der Sypt. The man walked away from the airport attack, where two suicide bombers blew themselves up, killing 16. Authorities detained four other men on Friday, including Osama K., sus- pected of having contact with the suicide bomber who blew himself up in the Brussels subway the same morning, killing another 16. Osama K. was filmed by security cameras in the City 2 shopping mall when the bags were bought that were used by the suicide bombers who attacked the airport. Belgian prosecutors said Abrini's fingerprints and DNA were not only in a Re- nault Clio used in the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, but also in an apartment in the Schaerbeek area of Brus- sels used by the Brussels bombers. Friday's detentions were a rare success for Belgian authorities, who have been accused for months of mis- handling the investigation. Both the interior and jus- tice ministers had offered to resign before the deten- tions. Despite multiple arrests, Brussels remains under the second-highest terror alert, meaning an attack is con- sidered likely. Abrini's precise role in the Paris attacks has never been clear, nor his full link to the Brussels attacks. Abrini is a 31-year-old Bel- gian-Moroccan, known as a petty criminal before he was believed to have trav- eled last summer to Syria, where his younger brother died in 2014 in the Islamic State's notorious franco- phone brigade. TERRORISM By Bassem Mroue The Associated Press BEIRUT A senior Egyptian al-Qaida figure fighting in Syria was killed in a U.S. drone strike this week, the latest to be killed in such attacks in Syria, a Syr- ian opposition monitoring group and relatives said Friday. The Britain-based Syr- ian Observatory for Hu- man Rights said Rifai Ah- mad Taha was killed in a strike Tuesday in the north- western Idlib province. Before joining al-Qaida, Taha was a top figure in Egypt's notorious militant group Gamaa Islamiya, which massacred 58 for- eign tourists in the ancient Egyptian city of Luxor in 1997. He was also allied with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. The Observatory's chief Rami Abdurrahman said several al-Qaida members, including Taha, were killed in Tuesday's strike. He said one of the dead was identi- fied as Abu Omar al-Masri — which is Arabic for Abu Omar the Egyptian — but that it was not clear if Taha was using that name. Taha wasbelievedtobeinhis60s. In Egypt, a relative said that Taha's wife and brother have received con- firmation about his death. The relative spoke on con- dition of anonymity fearing reprisals. In Washington, Depart- ment of Defense spokes- man Matthew Allen said the U.S. struck a vehicle killing several al-Qaida militants. He added that officials are still assessing the strike. "I can confirm that the US struck a vehicle killing several AQ militants," said Allen, using an acronym to refer to al-Qaida. "The re- sults of this strike are still being assessed." On Wednesday, Syria's al-Qaida branch known as the Nusra Front confirmed the death of Abu Firas al- Souri, a senior figure in the group, in a U.S. air- strike that also took place in Idlib province. Al-Souri was killed on Sunday, the group said. Taha's relative said doz- ens of members of Islamic groups were paying condo- lences Friday to the family at the home of his brother, Gharib, in the southern Egyptian village of Nagaa Dunqal. According to the relative, Taha had told his family he believes he is be- ing followed and just three days before his death he called his brother from Syria to tell him that the Americans are monitoring his movements. Taha was jailed in 2001 in Egypt under the rule of then-President Hosni Mubarak after being de- tained in Syria and handed over to Cairo. He was re- leased after the long-serv- ing leader was removed from power in 2011. Before that he spent nearly three decades out- side Egypt, including stints in Afghanistan and Sudan where bin Laden lived, and was also in Pakistan. Taha was also involved in plotting the assassi- nation attempt against Mubarak during a visit to Ethiopia in 1995. The for- mer Egyptian president was not harmed when his convoy was hit with bullets. In the early 1980s Taha, spent five years in jail af- ter the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President An- war Sadat by Muslim ex- tremists. In other developments, Syrian government forces fought fierce battles Friday against militants near the city of Aleppo, the coun- try's largest and once com- mercial center, the Obser- vatory and the Local Coor- dination Committees said. Meanwhile, the fate of dozens of cement workers and contractors abducted from their workplace north- east of Damascus on Thurs- day by the Islamic State group remained unknown. There were conflicting reports. The Observatory said around 170 workers were expected to be released af- ter successful mediation with elders from Dumeir, the area northeast of Da- mascus from where they were kidnapped. The activ- ist group said some of the other employees, including guards and armed govern- ment loyalists, would not be released. In Lebanon, media be- longing to the Hezbollah group, which is fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad's troops, said most of the 260 employees who were at the factory have been released already. It added that six workers were slain in front of their colleagues during interro- gation, while 30 others re- main unaccounted for. In Russia, Defense Min- istry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Moscow was concerned over the "worsening situa- tion" near Aleppo where re- portedly more than 1,200 Nusra Front militants have gathered north of the city. Russia last week warned that the Nusra Front had taken control over oppo- sition groups in that area. Konashenkov said Fri- day that "armed formations calling themselves 'opposi- tion' together with the Ja- bat al-Nusra group are trying daily to attack the people's militia and gov- ernment forces." He used the Arabic name for the al- Qaida affiliate. The Nusra Front and its rival Islamic State group. Are excluded from a Rus- sia-U.S.-engineered truce that has held since late Feb- ruary across most of Syria. Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor in Wash- ington, Jim Heintz in Mos- cow and Haggag Salama in Luxor, Egypt, contributed to this report. WORLD GEERTVANDENWIJNGAERT—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Police investigate an area where terror suspect Mohamed Abrini was arrested earlier in Brussels on Friday. Arrestsprovidenew links between Paris, Brussels bombings THE ASSOCIATED PRESS An image made from video by the Islamic State group shows a cement factory where militants snatched up to 300 cement workers and contractors from their workplace northeast of Damascus on Thursday. Prominent al-Qaida figure killed in US drone strike in Syria Construction Burrows Construction Remodel, New Additions, Siding Repair and Replacement, Water and Dryrot New Construction Foundation to Finish Ph:(530) 515-9779 Residential•Commerical PATIOS•DECKS REFRENCES Lic#824770 Roofing Call for Estimates! Residential, Commercial & Mobiles www.harbertroofing.com HARBERT ROOFING, INC. 530-223-3251 Lic# 696974 Time To Roof? Blinds Need Blinds? 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