Belgian Police Arrest Two on Terrorism Charges Prosecutors say the arrest potentially broke up a planned terror attack in Brussels during the holiday seasonBy Natalia Drozdiak and Julian E. Barnes
http://www.wsj.com/articles/belgian-police-arrest-two-on-terrorism-charges-1451381052
BRUSSELS—Belgian authorities said Tuesday they arrested two people on terrorism charges and broke up a plan for attacks during the holiday period, underlining fears of further mayhem in a Europe still unsettled over Islamic State’s deadly attacks in Paris last month.
Police seized Islamic State propaganda and military-style clothing but no explosives or arms in a series of raids Sunday and Monday in Brussels, Liège and the Flanders region of Belgium, prosecutors said.
The arrests were made amid stepped-up antiterrorism operations by Belgian authorities in the aftermath of the Nov. 13 Paris attacks, which were planned by a Belgian national and carried out by a team that included several others with ties to Belgium, including the fugitive Salah Abdeslam, a French citizen who was born and lived in Brussels.
Belgium has conducted dozens of raids, questioned scores of people, and arrested nine people in connection with those attacks.
Belgian federal prosecutors said they hadn’t identified links between those investigations and the two new arrests, but said their continuing investigation would be looking for any connections.
ENLARGE Among the intended targets were the Grand Place, the Belgian capital’s central square and site of its largest Christmas market, and a nearby police station, according to a person briefed on the investigations.
The Grand Place, a Unesco heritage site and Brussels’ most important tourist site, was constructed in the 15th and 16th centuries and then rebuilt after being largely flattened in a 1695 bombardment by the French army.
Parts of the city’s New Year’s Eve celebrations are also scheduled to take place in the area. Authorities said they didn’t have information about a specific date for the attacks.
Few details of the arrests or investigation were released, but prosecutors said there was a serious indication of planned terror attacks at several prominent locations in Brussels. Six people were initially detained in a series of raids in the capital and elsewhere in Belgium, but only two were arrested and charged.
Prosecutors said Islamic State propaganda was found during one of the raids, and one of the two men, described as having a leadership role, was additionally charged with attempting to recruit people into a terror group.
They said it was too early to tell whether the men were simply inspired by Islamic State or have direct ties to the group.
Local media outlets reported late Tuesday the two men were part of a motorcyclist group called the Kamikaze Riders. In French, the word kamikaze is commonly used to refer to suicide bombers.
The man charged with recruiting people into a terrorist organization was also the founder of the biker group and previously convicted of armed burglary, according to Belgian daily La Dernière Heure.
Belgium’s Crisis Center, a federal agency that assesses terrorism threats, advised police stations across Brussels to be on heightened alert.
The person briefed on the investigation said authorities believed police and military personnel, who have become a common presence on Brussels streets, were to be the targets of the intended attacks.
The reaction to the purported plot to attack Brussels during end-of-the-year holiday celebrations was far more subdued than in late November, when authorities feared there would be a Paris-style assault in the capital.
Then authorities locked down large swaths of the city for four days, closing schools, shutting down public transportation and canceling sporting and cultural events.
In the wake of the lockdown, some Belgians said the government overreacted, needlessly raising widespread alarm and fears.
Several of the Belgian authorities came under criticism for not being aggressive enough in their investigations, a charge they disputed.
Raids and arrests since the attacks have come at a quickening pace in Belgium. The two people arrested were among six people police initially detained in recent days.
Unlike the November lockdown, when large events were canceled, Brussels plans to go ahead with its New Year’s Eve celebrations, which are scheduled to include a fireworks display, a sound-and-light show and a DJ, said a spokeswoman for the capital. As part of additional security measures, eventgoers will only be able to access the main site of the festivities in the city center from a few entry points.
Some Belgians questioned whether the authorities had managed to foil a plot or only announced the arrests in an effort to appear as if they were making headway in the terrorism investigations.
ENLARGE “Who knows if it’s true” that there was a plot to attack Brussels, said Brecht Van Dam, 30, a hairdresser in Brussels. “If they found guns and weapons it would be different.”
Others shrugged off the news of the arrests.
“A terrorist attack could happen any day,” said Bernard Barette, 53. “We shouldn’t panic, because if we do, we don’t live anymore.”
Since the lockdown, life has largely returned to normal in the Belgian capital, albeit with an increased presence of police and military personnel in shopping areas, hotels and government offices.
Across Europe, leaders have been under pressure to expand intelligence sharing, and have announced some initiatives to better track foreign fighters.
Austrian police said Saturday they had beefed up security measures after receiving a warning from a “friendly” intelligence service about a possible terror attack in the period between Christmas and New Year’s.
In a statement, police in Vienna said the intelligence service had issued a warning to several European capitals in the days before Christmas that an attack involving explosives or shootings could take place in crowded places during the holiday season.
At the European Union summit in December, leaders pledged to move forward on various languishing initiatives to improve intelligence sharing, expand and improve systematic border checks and take action on proposals to crack down on illegal automatic weapons.
Terror concerns prompted New York City officials to add several hundred officers to those providing security for the city’s New Year’s Eve celebration on Times Square, bringing the expected total deployment to 6,000.
Officials said the November attacks in Paris, along with attacks in San Bernardino, Calif., had put the city on increased alert as it prepared to entertain thousands of holiday visitors.
A new police unit dedicated counterterrorism—the Critical Response Command—also will be deployed to Times Square, officials said.
“We are aware that the threat picture has changed,” said New York Police Commissioner William Bratton.
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