Authorities were on the hunt for suspected bomb-maker Najim Laachraoui, but he is now believed to be dead.
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Geens, along with Interior Minister Jan Jambon, offered to resign their positions, but the prime minister denied the resignations.
His brother, Khalid, is believed to have blown himself up at Maelbeek metro station, where an additional 20 people are thought to have died, making the attack the deadliest in Belgian history. Belgian authorities posted a wanted notice for the Moroccan native the day of the coordinated Paris attacks in November that killed 130 people. Turkish officials said he was later released from Dutch custody due to lack of evidence of involvement in extremism. “It is the only moment we could have linked him to it. And that moment, perhaps, we missed”. Police later found a nail bomb in an apartment in Schaerbeek. The attacks have laid bare European security failings and prompted calls for better intelligence cooperation.
Rob Wainwright, the head of Europe’s police agency Europol, said his agency is trying to make sure investigators have access to needed information. “But we also have records on arms smuggling, money laundering, forgery and other elements which are particularly relevant given that many of these guys had petty crime backgrounds”. These are all very challenging dimensions.
News said that according to United States officials, Khalid and Ibrahim El Bakraoui were known to U.S. counter terrorism authorities prior to Tuesday morning, when the pair and a third man devastated the Belgian capital.
Also Thursday, Abdeslam was summoned to court in Brussels.
Early media reports in the wake of the Brussels attacks suggested Laachraoui was involved but on the run, or was arrested by police.
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“It’s the same group, who were bent on committing attacks in France and Belgium”, said a source close to the investigation. The stakes are high, Belgian counterterrorism official Paul Van Tigchelt said Wednesday. Abdeslam’s lawyer, Sven Mary, told reporters at the courthouse that he asked for a one-month delay on any transfer while he studies the large dossier, but that Abdeslam “wants to explain himself in France, so it’s a good thing”. Hundreds have been gathering at a makeshift memorial in front of Brussels’ historic stock exchange.
