A French court has ruled that Mehdi Nemmouche, the man suspected of killing several people at Brussels' Jewish Museum in May, should be extradite to Belgium, where officials are seeking to proceed with a criminal case against him.
The 29-year-old French-Algerian national has been in French custody since his arrest in Marseille days after the deadly shooting.
The court in Versailles, acting in line with the European warrant for his arrest, described the crime as "killings with a terrorist connotation," which should, therefore, be overseen by Belgium, where they were carried out.
Originally, Nemmouche had opposed extradition, wary of being handed over to Israeli authorities. Two of the victims of the May 24 shooting were a couple of Israeli tourists, Emanuel and Miri Riva. A French woman and a Belgian museum employee man were also killed in the cold blood shooting.
When theyarrested Nemmouche, French authorities found the suspect in possession of a Kalashnikov rifle, wrapped in the flag for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), as well as a handgun.
Nemmouche has reportedly served time in France before. French prosecutor Francois Molins also said that he had travelled to Syria “three weeks after he was freed” to join Jihadist group in the country's civil war, where he remained for roughly one year.
Jewish leaders have urged Europe to do more to prevent anti-Semitic attacks in the aftermath of the shooting, highlighting in particular radicalized fighters returning from Syria.
Belgian authorities have reportedly agreed to provide the necessary means to better protect Jewish sites in the country from such attacks.