Belgium
Latest stories
Belgium Remands Man Found with Chainsaw Near EU Parliament

A Belgian judge on Tuesday ordered a man found with a chainsaw and a gun near the European Parliament to be detained for a week on charges of threatening an attack.

The arrest of the 32-year-old Slovakian on Monday sparked a bomb alert in central Brussels amid fears of Islamist attacks against police and public buildings.

W140 Full Story
Man with Chainsaw, Gun Arrested near European Parliament

Belgian police arrested a man who had a chainsaw and gun in his car near the European Parliament Monday, prompting the evacuation of several buildings, prosecutors said.

The 32-year-old Slovakian, dressed in military fatigues, said he wanted to meet European Parliament President Martin Schulz, Belgian media reported.

W140 Full Story
Belgium Arrests Four in Raids Targeting Syria Recruiters

Belgian police have arrested four people during nationwide raids aimed at smashing groups that recruit jihadists to fight in Syria, prosecutors said Friday.

Police carried out 22 raids in areas across Belgium but found no weapons or ammunition, the federal prosecutor's office said in a statement.

W140 Full Story
Belgium Arrests Three Suspected Islamist Militants

Belgian security forces arrested three suspected Islamist militants in fresh counter-terror raids after foiling a major plot to attack police earlier this month, officials said Tuesday.

The three arrests were made in the western town of Harelbeke, close to the French border, the Belga news agency reported, citing the prosecutor's office in nearby Courtrai.

W140 Full Story
Belgium Hunts Accomplice of Suspected Jewish Museum Killer

The Belgian authorities are looking for a possible accomplice to Mehdi Nemmouche, who has been charged with killing four people at the Jewish Museum in Brussels last year, the prosecutor's office said Friday.

The prosecutor's office said "we are looking for this person," who has not been identified, when asked to confirm a report in La Derniere Heure daily.

W140 Full Story
Belgian Museum Cancels Charlie Hebdo Tribute on Security Concerns

A Belgian museum dedicated to the creator of comic book hero Tintin said Thursday that security concerns prompted it to cancel an exhibition honoring the murdered Charlie Hebdo magazine cartoonists.

The museum in Louvain-la-Neuve near Brussels said it took the decision after consulting Wednesday with police who foiled an Islamist plot in Belgium last week, which followed the jihadist attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris.

W140 Full Story
Sixth Person Charged in Foiled Belgium Terror Plot

Belgian authorities have charged a sixth person with terrorism following a series of raids in Belgium last week that foiled a plot to kill police, the prosecutor's office said Wednesday.

The man, identified as Abdelmoumaim H. and who is in his 20s, was arrested Tuesday and charged with "participating in the activities of a terrorist group," the prosecutors said.

W140 Full Story
Belgium Seeks Two Men After Anti-Terror Raid

Belgian authorities are hunting for two men on the run after a jihadist cell was broken up in Belgium last week, with the search focusing on Spain and France, a source close to the investigation in Spain said Tuesday.

Belgium issued arrest warrants on Sunday for the two men, born in 1993 and 1996, to police in Spain and France, the source told AFP, confirming reports in the Spanish and Belgian media.

W140 Full Story
Dutch Police Raid Belgium-Linked Jihad Suspect's Home

Dutch police have raided the home of a young man believed to have links to a jihadist cell dismantled by Belgian security forces last week, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

"Police today raided the home of the man's parents and confiscated laptops and mobile phones," the Dutch public prosecutor's office said in a statement after the raid in central city of Utrecht.

W140 Full Story
Father Says Alleged Belgian Plot Mastermind Shamed Family

The father of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the alleged mastermind of a foiled Islamist plot in Belgium, says his son has shamed the family and destroyed their lives.

"Why in the name of God, would he want to kill innocent Belgians? Our family owes everything to this country," Omar Abaaoud, whose family moved to Belgium 40 years ago from Morocco, told La Derniere Heure newspaper Tuesday.

W140 Full Story