Deaths of 130 people in Paris attacks ‘nothing personal’, suspect tells court

Security forces patrol outside the Palais de Justice in Paris (Francois Mori/AP)

The key defendant in the 2015 Paris attacks trial has told the court that the so-called Islamic State (IS) network which struck the city was attacking France, and that the deaths of 130 people was “nothing personal”.

Salah Abdeslam, who was wearing all black and declined to remove his black mask, was the last of the 14 defendants present in the custom-built courtroom at the Palais de Justice in the French capital to speak.