Salah Abdeslam, the prime surviving suspect for November's Paris attacks, will no longer fight extradition to France but wants to return to his home country to explain himself as soon as possible, his lawyer said.

"Salah Abdeslam has asked me to inform you that he wishes to leave for France as quickly as possible," Sven Mary said in comments broadcast on BFM TV, speaking from Brussels.

Mary said he hoped this could happen "as soon as possible", adding that Abdeslam "wants to explain himself in France".

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said last week that at worst it could take three months for Abdeslam to be handed over to France after he said he would oppose extradition to his homeland. 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.