By the time cops acted on the information he was gone, El Mundo reported

It was claimed police could not carry out raids after 9pm and before 5am

Belgian media reported he was located but not arrested due to local laws

Extraordinary claims made in Belgian media state terror suspect Abdeslam Salah (pictured) was located but not arrested 48 hours after the Paris attacks

Fugitive terrorist Salah Abdeslam was located 48 hours after the Paris terror attacks but was not arrested because it was night-time, according to extraordinary new claims.

Spanish newspaper El Mundo said Europe's most wanted man was tracked down to a house in the Brussels neighbourhood of Molenbeek on the Sunday night after the attacks.

The El Mundo article - based on reports in Belgian media - said police had to wait until daylight to intervene, because Belgian law prohibits police operations between 9pm and 5am - and Abdeslam, 26, was gone by the time they acted.

It is understood Belgium’s Justice Minister Koen Geens will address the claims on national TV programme Faroek, on VTM television, tonight.

The paper stated Geens would admit Abdeslam was found on the Sunday night, but he wasn’t arrested because Belgian law prohibits police operations between 9pm and 5am.

El Mundo reported the Belgium’s Penal Code prevents raids, arrests and operations between 9pm and 5am except in cases of 'flagrant crimes or fire'.

Terrorism is apparently not sufficient reason at present, prompting the wait until after midday on Monday to act once police had a judicial warrant, it was claimed.

The paper said Belgian prosecutors had confirmed 'the suspicion' Abdeslam was in the property existed and that it was on the list of 'suspicious properties' but there was no certainty he was there.

It said it was not clear why police did not go into the property at 5am and waited until after midday.

Abdeslam, 26, rented the car used to drive the Paris terrorists to the Bataclan theatre where most of the 130 people killed in the November 13 attacks lost their lives.

He is known to have returned to Belgium after evading police authorities but his whereabouts since have been a mystery.

He is now the target of one of the largest manhunts in European history. Police are thought to believe he may have escaped to Morocco.

Meanwhile, Austrian authorities are investigating two men arrested several days ago for possible links to last month's attacks.

State Prosecutor Robert Holzleitner said the two - arrested during the weekend in a migrants' shelter in Salzburg - are suspected of 'participation in a terrorist organization'.

Holzleitner said the suspects arrived in Europe from the Middle East but refused to give further details, saying that would jeopardize the investigation.

The daily Kronen Zeitung said the suspects are French citizens with Pakistani and Algerian roots who were believed to have crossed into Europe with some of those who carried out the Paris attacks.

The newspaper said the two entered Austria in October using fake Syrian passports and were waiting for orders to carry out attacks.

Abdeslam is believed to have fled Paris after failing to detonate his suicide vest during the ISIS rampage in Paris (pictured) last month

A man covered in blood is led from the scene of the Bataclan Theatre attack, where 90 people were killed