TWO brothers who took part in the Paris attacks and the suspected chief organiser were on a terror suspect watch list handed out by Belgian intelligence to the mayor of Molenbeek a month ago, it has emerged.
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The Belgian capital has been under the highest-level threat alert since Saturday, meaning that authorities fear a “serious and imminent attack”.
“It is not my job to track possible terrorists”, Ms Schepmans reportedly said in an interview, claiming it was “the responsibility of the federal police”.
Belgian authorities are still on the lookout for 30-year-old Abrini after issuing a warrant for his arrest Tuesday.
They are analyzing the vest, which was found in the Paris suburb of Montrouge, near where Abdeslam’s cell phone was traced the night of the attacks, prosecutor Molins said.
Prosecutors in Paris revealed late Tuesday that the alleged ringleader of the attacks had visited the Bataclan concert hall crime scene right after the November 13 attacks as riot police were still intervening, and planned to later blow himself up with an accomplice in the capital’s largest business district.
Much of the metro reopened Wednesday, though two lines remained closed. They say extensive raids in Belgium on Sunday and Monday – in which 21 people were detained – targeted people suspected of helping organize the attacks.
Belgium has been at the heart of investigations into the attacks since France said two of the suicide bombers in Paris had lived there.
Anne Wibin, captain of the city’s fire brigade, told reporters earlier in the day that even though the substance had not been found to be radioactive, authorities were still going through with the investigation.
CNN affiliate BFMTV reported the vest contained bolts and TATP, the same explosive as the suicide belts used by the Paris attackers.
At a joint news conference, Mr Hollande said he and Mr Obama shared a “relentless determination to fight terrorism anywhere and everywhere”.
Questions have been raised over whether Abdeslam aborted part of the attacks before fleeing toward Belgium. A link between the two has not been established, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office. CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank said. “So they’ll be doing all sorts of forensics, trying to establish who this belonged to, and that will be a huge priority for French investigators”.
Government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said he could not confirm an RTL radio report that the state treasury estimates the cost of the attacks at €2bn, although he said it “might” be right. Russian Federation is conducting separate airstrikes against ISIS and other groups in coordination with the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
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Paris has intensified its campaign against IS since the Nov 13 Paris assaults that left 130 people dead, this week launching its first strikes from the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean.
