Lodger of raided French flat knew he was helping terrorists - prosecutor

A member of French judicial police inspects the apartment raided by French Police special forces earlier in Saint-Denis, near Paris, France, November 18, 2015 during an operation to catch fugitives from Friday night's deadly attacks in the French capital. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

PARIS (Reuters) - Jawad Bendaoud, the man who provided accommodation to three people killed in a police raid last week, must have been aware that he had helped suspected terrorists, a French prosecutor said on Tuesday. French police were involved in a seven-hour gunfight with the people staying at the St Denis apartment north of Paris on Nov. 18, days after coordinated attacks by Islamist militants in and around Paris in which 130 people were killed. "He couldn't possibly have been unaware ... that he was taking part in a terrorist organisation," Paris prosecutor Francois Molins told a news conference. Molins said he would ask a judge to allow a formal investigation of Bendaoud's role. (Reporting by Michel Rose and Sophie Louet; Editing by Gareth Jones)