UK pair accused of giving cash to Brussels, Paris attacks suspect

Two people appeared in court in London on Friday accused of giving thousands of pounds to Brussels and Paris attacks suspect Mohamed Abrini when he was in Britain last summer. Briton Mohammed Ali Ahmed and Belgian citizen Zakaria Boufassil, both 26, gave £3,000 ($4,400, 3,800 euros) to Abrini, prosecutors allege. Abrini was arrested in Brussels on April 8 and has confessed to being "the man in the hat" caught on video with suicide bombers at Brussels airport on March 22, before coordinated attacks that left 32 people dead. He has also been charged in relation to the November attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead. Ahmed and Boufassil are accused of meeting Abrini in the central city of Birmingham in July and giving him the cash, with reasonable cause to suspect it could be used for terrorism. The men appeared in court alongside Boufassil's sister Soumaya Boufassil, who wore a burqa in the dock. The 29-year-old is accused with Ahmed of accruing money with the intention of committing acts of terrorism or assisting another to commit such acts. All three were arrested earlier this month. They spoke only to confirm their name, dates of birth and addresses and were remanded in custody ahead of another court hearing set for May 13.