Six found guilty of murder at Brussels 2016 attack trial

BRUSSELS: A Brussels court on Tuesday convicted French citizen Salah Abdeslam and Belgian-Moroccan Mohamed Abrini for 2016 jihadist bombings in the Belgian capital that killed 32 people, after the country´s largest-ever criminal trial.

The high-profile pair -- already sentenced to life in jail by France for a 2015 massacre in Paris -- were among six accused found guilty of “murder linked to terrorism” over the biggest peacetime attack in Belgium.

The suicide attacks on March 22, 2016 at Brussels´ main airport and on the metro system were claimed by the Islamic State group.

Hundreds of travellers and transport staff were maimed and seven years on many victims, relatives and rescuers remain traumatised.

The murder convictions leave those found guilty facing a life sentence in Belgium. Sentencing is expected after the summer recess ends in September.

Abdeslam, 33, was the sole surviving perpetrator of the 2015 Paris attack that killed 130 people. Prosecutors told the court they believed the Belgium-based cell also carried out the November 13, 2015 rampage in the French capital.