Confirming that several FBI agents are involved in the investigation into the attacks, Kerry said the “carping” about Belgium’s shortcomings “is a little bit frantic and inappropriate”.
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Police also sealed off an area at a light-rail stop, where explosives experts were seen at the platform working with a bomb disposal robot. That man’s house was searched, the Brussels Prosecutor says, but no weapons or explosives were found. The witness said it was not clear if the person had been wounded, but was lying on the ground and talking to the police.
“I heard two explosions, they were shooting”.
Video from the scene showed the man lying on his side, shattered glass from the tram shelter smashed by bullets at his feet.
Authorities have identified Abaaoud as the ringleader of the November 13 attacks in Paris.
The Belgian prosecutor’s office confirmed the arrest and said it was linked to a foiled bomb plot this week, north of Paris.
A Frenchman, 34-year-old Reda Kriket was also arrested last night near Paris. The German interior ministry declined immediate comment.
Prosecutors have not said how many attackers took part in Tuesday’s terror attacks, or how many accomplices might still be on the run.
“We have strong indications that this is the suspect who was hunted for the last couple of days”.
At least two Americans have been confirmed killed in the Brussels attacks, the State Department said today, as top USA diplomat John Kerry visited the stricken city to express condolences and defended Belgium’s counterterrorism efforts against “carping” by critics.
More details about the American victims aren’t yet known.
“The individual questioned, a French national, is suspected of high-level involvement in this plan”.
In France, meanwhile, authorities announced that they had arrested a man they claimed was in “an advanced stage” of planning an attack on French soil.
The Belgian interior and justice ministers said they had offered their resignations but the prime minister refused to accept them. Bakraoui’s brother, Khalid, attacked Maelbeek metro station, where at least 20 people were killed. Brussels airport officials said on Saturday that flights will not resume before Tuesday as damage is assessed following the twin bomb blasts.
Police arrested Abdeslam after they found his fingerprints in an apartment they raided in Brussels’ Forest district on March 15 that had been rented by one of the Bakraoui brothers under a false name.
As well as meeting with officials from Belgium and the European Union, which is based in Brussels, Kerry is due to pay his respects to the victims of this week’s attacks, which he says underscore the urgent need for a unified front against the Islamic State group.
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Belgium’s nuclear agency has withdrawn the entry badges of some staff and has denied access to other people amid concern the country’s nuclear plants could be a target for extremists.
