Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Biodun Iginla, BBC News
Showing posts with label Jan Jambon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jan Jambon. Show all posts

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Paris attacks: Brussels alert extended over 'imminent threat'


  • 30 minutes ago

by Isabelle Roussel and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, Brussels


Soldiers patrolling Brussels's main square on SundayImage copyright Reuters
Image caption Soldiers from the Belgian army have joined police officers on patrols in Brussels
Brussels will stay on the highest level of terror alert because of the "serious and imminent" threat of Paris-style attacks, Belgium's prime minister says.
Charles Michel added that universities, schools and the metro would stay shut.
Brussels has been on lockdown all weekend, amid a manhunt for suspected Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam.
Meanwhile, the BBC understands that a suicide bomber - pictured in a new French police appeal - arrived in Greece under the name of M al-Mahmod.
The BBC's Ed Thomas has matched the image released by French police with a photo on the arrival papers of a man who reached the Greek island of Leros on 3 October.
Police appeal for information about one of the Paris attackersImage copyright EPA
Image caption Police have released an image of one of the attackers, asking for more information about him
The man was with a group of Syrian refugees and with another attacker who was travelling under the name of Ahmad al-Mohammed.
Follow the latest live developments
Interview transcript: 'My brothers were manipulated, not radicalised'
Abdeslam: Suspect 'meant to blow himself up'
Brussels terror threat: 'Everyone is on edge'
Belgium's jihadist networks
French police have asked for more information about the man, whom they say was the third suicide bomber to strike the Stade de France on 13 November.
Islamic State militants, some of them from Brussels, killed 130 people in Paris on 13 November.
Security forces completed several operations in Brussels on Sunday night, the AFP news agency reports. The police had urged the public not to report its movements on social media.
Earlier on Sunday, the Belgian prime minister told reporters in Brussels that the authorities fear "an attack similar to the one in Paris, with several individuals who could also possibly launch several attacks at the same time in multiple locations".
Media captionPrime Minister Charles Michel: "There is a sustained, serious and imminent threat against the capital"
Earlier, Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon said the danger to Belgium was not tied to Abdeslam alone.
"The threat is broader than the one suspected terrorist," he told Flemish broadcaster VRT.
It was not clear if Mr Jambon was referring to those involved in the Paris attacks, or others who might be planning attacks in Belgium.
Soldiers joined police officers on patrols in Brussels over the weekend. Many public spaces in the usually bustling capital were deserted, as people heeded official warnings to avoid crowds.
Media captionMohammed Abdeslam, speaking to RTBF: "We want Salah to surrender"
The Belgian authorities have so far charged three people with involvement in the Paris attacks, claimed by Islamic State militants.
French media have reported that nine militants carried out the attacks, and seven died on Friday night.
One of the men who drove Salah Abdeslam to Belgium told his lawyer that he was dressed in a "big jacket" and may have had a suicide belt.
The lawyer, Carine Couquelet, told French TV this raised questions, including the possibility that Salah Abdeslam may have been supposed to blow himself up in Paris but had had second thoughts.
Images of damaged apartment in Saint-DenisImage copyright AFP/ITV NEWS
Image caption Images have emerged from inside the apartment building in Saint-Denis where Paris attacks ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud and associate Hasna Ait Boulahcen died earlier this week
Media captionEagles of Death Metal, speaking to Vice.com: 'They killed people in our dressing room'
Friends of Abdeslam told ABC News they had spoken to him on Skype and said he was hiding in Brussels and desperately trying to get to Syria.
They said he was caught between European authorities hunting him and IS members who were "watching him" and were unhappy that he had not detonated his suicide belt.
Eagles of Death Metal describe gig horror
Paris attacks caused archbishop 'doubt'
Paris attacks: The unanswered questions
Special report: In-depth coverage of the attacks and their aftermath
Meanwhile on Saturday, members of the US rock band Eagles of Death Metal described the horror of the Bataclan concert hall massacre in their first interview since the attack.
Lead singer Jesse Hughes said a group of fans who hid in the band's dressing room were found by the gunmen and killed except for one who hid under Hughes's leather jacket.
In a clip from the interview with Vice News to be released in full next week, an emotional Hughes said: "A great reason why so many were killed was because so many people wouldn't leave their friends. So many people put themselves in front of people."
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Mugshots of the men behind the Paris attacks
Are you in Brussels? How have you been affected by the raised terror alert level in the capital? Email your experiences to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
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Saturday, November 21, 2015

Brussels terror alert based on fears of 'Paris-style attack'


  • 1 hour ago
  • From the section Europe


by Isabelle Roussel and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, Brussels

Military and police on the streets of BrusselsImage copyright Reuters
Image caption Armed police and soldiers on the streets of Brussels
Belgian PM Charles Michel says Brussels has been placed on its highest level of terror alert in response to information about the risk of an attack like the one in Paris last week.
The fear was that "several individuals with arms and explosives could launch an attack... perhaps even in several places", Mr Michel said.
Some of the attackers who killed 130 people in Paris lived in Brussels.
Leading suspect Salah Abdeslam is believed to have gone back to Belgium.
He is now the focus of a huge manhunt.
Follow the latest updates
The Brussels metro is closed till Sunday and people have been told to avoid crowds.
These include shopping centres and concerts, and the authorities have also recommended that large events, including football matches, be cancelled, a statement said.
Suspect Ahmad Dahmani arrested in AntalyaImage copyright AFP
Image caption Ahmad Dahmani, a Belgian citizen, was arrested in Turkey on suspicion of involvement in the Paris attacks
Media captionBelgian PM Charles Michel: Belgium 'at risk of attack'
The warning for the rest of Belgium stays at a lower level, which is still at a "serious" level.
The Belgian government will review the security situation in Brussels on Sunday afternoon, Mr Michel added.
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At the scene: James Reynolds, BBC News, Brussels

"We are closed, exceptional circumstances" says a sign posted in a shop inside Brussels' Gare du Midi train station. "Be safe."
Armed police officers patrol the station's main concourse. One squad check passengers' bags. Two officers escort away a drunk man who has come in search of cigarettes.
At 12:08, the Eurostar from London arrives. At the gate, a young woman is embraced by her mother who smiles and says she will take her daughter home as quickly as possible in order to stay safe. Passengers also include a group of British men on a stag weekend. They say they did not want to cancel their plans. They head boisterously out into the city.
Along one of the city's main shopping streets, shops are open. Rows of security guards stand at the front doors.
I write these words from a table in a half empty fast-food restaurant. Two well armed soldiers in camouflage uniform are standing a metre away from me just inside the front door.
Belgian game off amid security fears
Belgium's jihadist networks
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Interior Minister Jan Jambon earlier told reporters the country's situation was "serious", but "under control", as he arrived for a special security cabinet meeting on Saturday.
A Belgian man of Moroccan descent, Ahmad Dahmani, 26, has been arrested at a luxury hotel in Antalya along with two other terror suspects, Turkish authorities have told the BBC.
He is believed to have been in contact with the suspects who perpetrated the Paris attacks, an official said.
Soldiers patrol streets in BrussleslImage copyright EPA
Image caption Soldiers have been deployed to beef up security on Brussels' streets
He arrived from Amsterdam on 14 November; there is no record of the Belgian authorities having warned Turkey about him, which is why there was no entry ban, the official said.
The Belgian authorities have so far charged three people with involvement in the attacks, claimed by Islamic State militants.
In Paris, French police have freed seven people arrested during the massive raid on an apartment housing the suspected ringleader, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, prosecutors said according to AFP news agency.
Abdelhamid Abaaoud was killed in the raid in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis.
However, Jawad Bendaoud - who has admitted lending the apartment to two people from Belgium "as a favour", but denied knowing any more - is being held in custody.
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More on the Paris attacks

Media captionSince the attacks in Paris last Friday, one book has been selling out in bookshops across the city - Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast
Special report: In-depth coverage of the attacks and their aftermath
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Earlier, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution to "redouble" action against Islamic State following last week's deadly attacks in the French capital.
The French-drafted document urges UN members to "take all necessary measures" in the fight against IS, which said it carried out the attacks.
Mugshots of the men behind the Paris attacks
France is still hunting Salah Abdeslam, who hired one of the cars used in the attacks.
French media have reported that nine militants carried out the attacks, and seven died on Friday night. So it is possible that another attacker - as well as Salah Abdeslam - is still at large.
Investigators suspect the gunmen used safe houses in Saint-Denis, Bobigny and Alfortville in the Paris region.
But it is not clear when the group met up to launch the attacks. Other elements of the plot also remain unclear.
Investigators will be studying phone records and assessing the weapons seized for further clues.
Hundreds of people were wounded in the near-simultaneous attacks on Paris bars and restaurants, a concert hall and sports stadium.
The attacks were the worst in Europe since the 2004 Madrid bombings.
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What is Islamic State?

IS is a notoriously violent Islamist group which controls large parts of Syria and Iraq. It has declared its territory a caliphate - a state governed in accordance with Islamic law - under its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

What does it want?

IS demands allegiance from all Muslims, rejects national borders and seeks to expand its territory. It follows its own extreme version of Sunni Islam and regards non-believers as deserving of death.

How strong is IS?

IS projects a powerful image, partly through propaganda and sheer brutality, and is the world's richest insurgent group. It has about 30,000 fighters but is facing daily bombing by a US-led multi-national coalition, which has vowed to destroy it.
More on Islamic State
Are you in Brussels? How have you been affected by the raised terror alert level in the capital? Email your experiences to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist today. You can also contact us in the following ways:
Read the terms and conditions.
Or use the form below
Your contact details

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