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Bloomberg
Terrorism probes advanced across Europe in the wake of last week’s deadly bombings in Brussels, with suspects arrested in Italy and the Netherlands, and Belgium carrying out police raids in several areas.
Belgian prosecutors said late Sunday that an Algerian man being held in Italy is suspected of participating in a ring that produced falsified documents for some of the men responsible for last November’s attacks in Paris and “probably also by Salah Abdeslam,†the only surviving suspect in the assaults. Abdeslam has been in Belgian custody since March 18.
The prosecutors are looking into whether the counterfeiters also provided fake documents to the perpetrators of the attacks in the Belgian capital, which left at least 31 dead, including three suicide bombers. The Algerian suspect, detained in Salerno on Saturday under a European arrest warrant requested by Belgium, was identified by Ansa news agency as Djamal Eddine Ouali.
Dutch police on Sunday arrested a 32-year-old Frenchman in Rotterdam on suspicion of involvement in planning a terrorist attack, Belga reported, citing prosecutors. German police earlier arrested two men in connection with the Brussels attacks.
Riot Police
Meanwhile, riot police used water cannons to push back hundreds of protesters in downtown Brussels at the scene of a temporary memorial to victims of the assaults. Police made 10 arrests in connection with the demonstrations, Belga reported.
Zaventem airport, where 11 were killed last week, is expected to stay closed at least until Tuesday. “A restart in the short term is not possible in the devastated infrastructure,†according to a statement on the airport’s website. The Maelbeek metro station, the site of the other attack, is closed to passengers but trains are passing through.
The Belgian prosecutors have charged a suspect identified as Faycal C. with terrorist murder in the March 22 bombings. Faycal C. may have been the man in a cream-colored jacket seen on security cameras at the Brussels airport, according to Belgian media.
Four suspects were held after the latest Belgian raids, which were carried out in three districts of the capital as well as the towns of Mechelen and Duffel. Five people detained in the raids were released on Sunday.