Luke Skywalker
Super Moderator
{vb:raw ozzmodz_postquote}:
A Brussels square that has been a memorial site turned agitated on Sunday when black-clad men started shouting slogans and carrying a banner with an expletive against the Islamic State group. (March 27) AP
Police use water canon to try to disperse right wing demonstrators during a protest at the site of one of the memorials to the victims of the recent Brussels attacks on March, 27, 2016.(Photo: Alastair Grant, AP)
Belgian security forces conducted 13 raids in three cities Sunday, taking four people into custody and continuing a crackdown on suspected terrorists in the wake of Tuesday's deadly attacks.
Federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw's office<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said nine people initially were detained in Brussels, Duffel and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Mechelen. Five were later released, state-owned broadcaster RTBF reported.
Van Leeuw said the arrests were made<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"in connection with terrorism" but did not link them directly with the attacks at Brussels Airport and a metro station that killed 31 people and wounded hundreds more. In addition,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Italian police said they had<span style="color: Red;">*</span>arrested an Algerian man accused of providing fake documents to suspects in the attacks in Paris and Brussels.
Also Sunday, police in Brussels fired water cannons to disperse protesters at a "Rally Against Fear" held<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in support of victims of terror. Authorities had canceled the rally, citing a police force already strained by investigations in the wake of the attacks. Several hundred rallied anyway, RTBF reported, including hundreds of right-wing protesters dressed in black, some covering their faces with<span style="color: Red;">*</span>balaclavas.
"They define themselves as (sports) hooligans, but their outfits evoke their nationalist trend," RTBF reported.
USA TODAY
Reports: 'Man in hat' in Brussels video arrested, charged
USA TODAY
American couple confirmed killed in Brussels attack
Brussels police Commissioner<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Christian De Coninck said several of the men, supporters of three Belgian soccer teams, were arrested in a clash with police hustling them to a train station. Two police officers were injured, he said.
Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur expressed outrage that "this kind of scum" had added<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to the nation's pain instead of aiding healing.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Prime Minister Charles Michel chastised the group for their<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"highly inappropriate" behavior at a solemn event.
Belgium was struggling to return to normalcy.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Brussels Airlines juggled flights out of alternative Belgium airports following the blast at its hub, Brussels Airport, which won't reopen until at least Tuesday. The airport said police have wrapped up their investigation at the site, and authorities are working on plans to open temporary ticketing desks.
On Saturday, officials charged three men with terrorist offenses, including a man identified by Belgian media as the "man in the hat" shown on surveillance video at<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Brussels Airport<span style="color: Red;">*</span>minutes before Tuesday's attacks.
While prosecutors have not officially<span style="color: Red;">*</span>identified a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>suspect as the man in the video, they confirmed they have charged a man identified as "Faycal C." for<span style="color: Red;">*</span>“involvement in a terrorist group, terrorist murder and attempted terrorist murder.”<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Belgian state TV<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and the newspaper<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Le Soir,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>using a different spelling, identified the suspect<span style="color: Red;">*</span>as<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Faisal Cheffou, a Belgian freelance filmmaker and journalist.
Prosecutors are awaiting DNA evidence before making an official statement on whether they believe they have the third terrorist in custody,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>RTBF reported.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Prosecutors did say that they have searched the latest suspect's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>home and turned up<span style="color: Red;">*</span>no weapons or explosives.
On the surveillance video, the third<span style="color: Red;">*</span>terrorist, wearing a hat and light-colored clothing on the right, is shown walking beside the two other terrorists. Authorities<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>man was pushing a cart with luggage containing a 35-pound bomb that did not detonate.
The other two men in the airport surveillance video have been identified as<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Ibrahim El Bakraoui, 29, and Najim Laachraoui, a bombmaker linked by DNA to the Paris terror attacks in November that killed 130 people.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Also identified in the Brussels attacks is Khalid El Bakraoui, 27, Ibrahim's brother, who blew himself up in a subway car at a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>metro station.
Contributing: Doug Stanglin
[h=4]Posted![/h]A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed