Belgian minister says Paris attacks fugitive likely getting help

PARIS (AP)

Belgian Justice Minister Koen Geens said that Paris fugitive Salah Abdeslam is "likely" getting support from others during his continued flight from authorities.

After a manhunt stretching for nearly two weeks, Geens said it was unlikely Abdeslam could hide for so long on his own.

"If someone is on the run on his own, he is caught quickly, while it is tougher to find someone who is not alone. The latter is likely," he told VTM network after Thursday's meeting of the national security council.

He said it was obvious Abdeslam was part of a bigger network. "It is clear it was a cell that operated with logistic and personal support of a number of people."

Authorities in the northeastern Italian city of Trieste have confiscated a shipment of nearly 800 shotguns en route from Turkey to Belgium.

Financial police Lt. Gen. Gabriele Baron said Thursday that the shipment had not been properly declared to authorities under laws aimed at preventing arms trafficking. The recipient was listed as a company in Belgium, but Baron said that unless properly declared "there is a risk that it can end up in other hands."

Belgium has been under a state of high alert since the deadly Dec. 11 Paris attacks, as several suspects had links to Belgium and Belgium authorities have warned of an extremist plot against Brussels.

The shotguns were each packed in an individual box aboard a truck that arrived on a ferry in Trieste on Tuesday. Authorities found no other arms on board.

Trieste prosecutors are investigating possible charges.

Belgian authorities say an anthrax scare at Brussels's main mosque was a hoax after investigators determined the suspicious powder was flour.