Source: THE GUARDIAN
Suspected Paris attacker Salah Abdelslam is still on the run after he evaded a series of late-night police raids in Belgium and the country headed into a third day of lockdown.
Officials said they arrested at least 16 suspects in 19 raids late on Sunday night aimed at rolling up a terrorist network which authorities believe is planning an attack similar to the one which left 130 people dead in Paris 10 days ago.
No weapons or explosives were found during the raids, and the failure to capture Abdeslam will further undermine wavering confidence in the competence of Belgium’s counter-terrorist agencies.
Eric van der Sypt, Belgium’s public prosecutor, told a news conference early on Monday that a judge would review the detentions of the 16 arrested. In one incident, police fired on a car that was later found in Brussels, but it was not clear, van der Sypt said, if it was linked to the case.
“Abdeslam Salah was not found during the raids,” he added.
The operation came hours after the prime minister announced reinforced security measures and a third day of lockdown in Brussels.
All schools in Europe’s de facto capital have been shut as a precaution and the city’s metro suspended, prompting predictions of chaos as the working week starts on Monday.
Local media dubbed the move “historic” and “unprecedented”.
Much of the historic centre of Brussels was cordoned off as armed police – backed by soldiers – moved in on Sunday night. Helicopters could be heard flying over the capital.
Police evacuated restaurants in the centre, blocked off roads and called on residents to stay away from windows. The public prosecutor said there were also raids near Liège in the east and Charleroi, south of Brussels.
Other raids took place in Molenbeek, a run-down borough of Brussels where Abdeslam lived.
According to one unconfirmed local press report, the 26-year-old Frenchman and former petty criminal broke through a police cordon near Liège at the wheel of a luxury car.
Authorities said the unprecedented security lockdown this week was necessary to prevent a “serious and imminent” terrorist attack.
At least three of the nine men suspected of carrying out the Paris attacks were based in Brussels. Two men were held by Belgian authorities last week on suspicion of picking Abdeslam up in the French capital and driving him back to Belgium after the attacks, which killed 130 and injured hundreds more.
Michel told a tense press conference on Sunday afternoon: “We still fear attacks here ... involving several individuals striking simultaneously in several places,” adding that there were “indications” that transport systems, commercial centres, shopping streets and busy places were targets.
“We realise that these measures will complicate economic and professional life … and we are doing everything we can to return to normality as soon as possible,” Michel told reporters.
On Saturday the government raised the threat level in and around Brussels to four – the highest level – and deployed hundreds of troops to supplement armed local police.
European Union institutions will remain open, although with extra security checks, a spokesman said.
The minister of education, Joëlle Milquet, said the closure of all educational institutions could be
“You do not mess around with the security of children and students ... This was the only sure measure of protection that we could take,” she told local TV networks.
Many shops and restaurants remained shut during the day on Sunday in Brussels with few locals in the streets. Museums and cinemas were also closed. Prospects for Britain’s Davis Cup tennis clash with Belgium on Friday going ahead appeared slim.
“We’ve never had this kind of terrorist threat here before. It’s very unexpected, almost surreal,” said Alinka Le Comte, 26, a shop assistant in the centre of the city.
Earlier in the day tourists continued to throng sights such as the city’s main square.
“It is reassuring to see the police. We are concerned but not frightened,” said Emilio Bravo, who had travelled to Brussels from Alicante, Spain.
However, the Sunday morning market at the city’s Eurostar terminal Gare du Midi – one of the biggest outdoor markets in Europe – was called off. Busy trains from Paris were subject to extra security measures.
Some security measures may be relaxed or stiffened after a review on Monday afternoon depending on inputs from counter-terrorist agencies, officials said.
Many in Belgian’s Muslim community, which numbers around 600,000, fear a backlash as tensions continue.
“We are very happy to see the searches and hear about the arrests,” said Dekhili Marouan, a 35-year-old catering worker who arrived in Belgium from Tunisia five years ago. “It’s frightening for everybody. I’m worried too about people here blaming all of us Muslims for this. These people who do this kind of violence, they are not Muslims.”
Belgian officials have rejected widespread criticism of the country’s intelligence services and counter-terror efforts.
But the news that a Belgian man suspected of undertaking reconnaissance for the Paris attacks’ targets has been held by Turkish police has underlined the country’s role as a base for those behind the plot.
Belgium reportedly supplies more foreign fighters to Syria than any other EU country in per capita terms. Many have come from Molenbeek, the Brussels borough with a large Muslim community that has long been a concern.
Carine Coquelet, the lawyer of one of the two men detained in Belgum last week, said her client admitted picking up Abdeslam in Paris shortly after the terrorist strike there and driving him back to Brussels. She said that Abdesalam may have been wearing a belt of explosives under a coat.
Koen Geens, the justice minister, said that the Paris attacks had shown that the profile of potential targets had changed.
“It’s no longer synagogues or the Jewish museums or police stations, it’s mass gatherings and public places.”
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