A man wearing a fake explosive belt filled with salt and biscuits has triggered a major security alert and an emergency meeting of key government ministers after claiming he he was going to be blown up outside a central Brussels shopping centre.
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| A Belgian police officer patrols near a Brussels shopping centre after the arrest. |
Police said the man claimed to have been abducted and dropped off at the City2 complex, and that the “suicide belt” would be detonated remotely.
Belgium has been on at least its second-highest security alert level since the Paris attacks in November that killed 130, and the suicide attacks of 22 March that killed 32 people and injured hundreds in Brussels. Extra police and military have been mobilised, guarding key buildings, nuclear plants and parts of the transport network.
The Brussels prosecutor Rym Kechiche said authorities were investigating whether Tuesday’s incident had links to terrorism or was a hoax. “We prefer the hypothesis of a hoax attack, but it’s too early to say,” she said.
The man, identified only as JB, was being questioned by officers. Prosecutors said he was known to police and was thought to have had psychiatric problems. A second man, who is suspected of driving him to the scene, was also being questioned.
JB recently told police he had been enlisted to join Islamic State in Syria, but Brussels prosecutors were not able to prove or disprove his claim, Kechiche said.
A car matching a detailed description the man gave police was found parked in a street in the Schaerbeek area of Brussels. Police declined to say how many people had been in the vehicle.
As a result of the alert, the prime minister, Charles Michel, changed his morning programme and a meeting of the Belgian crisis centre was called. The crisis centre spokesman said the country’s security alert had not changed.
“That level, and the measures accompanying it, is already high,” Peter Mertens said. “The situation of this morning has no impact on the existing measures.”
guardian
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