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Police blamed for failure to track Brussels bomber

Several of the Paris attackers were Belgian or had links to Belgium, and the country has been on high alert for possible attacks.

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After the arrest by the French counterterrorism service, DGSI, the agency raided an apartment building last night in the northern Paris suburb of Argenteuil.

Today police officials said a second man is being sought in connection the metro bombing.

The captured Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam was shown pictures by Belgian interrogators last Saturday of the brothers who later carried out the Brussels suicide bombings, it emerged today.

Dubbed the “man in white”, he was pictured alongside Ibrahim El Bakraoui and Laachraoui, moments before they detonated their suitcase bombs.

Also Thursday, the chief suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was summoned to court in Brussels after his arrest last week in the Belgian capital.

His brother Khalid El Bakraoui targeted a train at a Metro station during the morning rush hour on Tuesday, killing 20 people.

They acknowledged that top officials failed to act expeditiously on leads including Turkey’s request a year ago to take custody of Ibrahim El Bakraoui.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking in a news conference Friday with Belgium Prime Minister Charles Michel, confirmed Americans died in the attacks but didn’t say how many.

The taxi driver who drove the Brussels suicide bombers to the airport was not allowed to touch their explosives-laden bags and they sat in silence during the commute. His lawyer said Abdeslam is not fighting extradition to France, which wants him to face potential terrorism charges.

Downing Street said the number of Britons known to have been injured in the attack was now six, four of whom have been discharged from hospital.

Addressing his pivotal role in the Paris attacks which killed 130 people on Nov.13, Abdeslam reportedely confessed that he was wearing an explosive vest and had for mission to drive three other passengers.

People of around 40 nationalities were killed or wounded in the attack.

“At this stage, there is no tangible evidence that links this plot to the attacks in Paris and Brussels”, added Mr Cazeneuve.

The disclosure that the European Union expressed its concerns to Belgium about serious security holes in its border controls was published by British newspaper the Daily Telegraph.

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Transport terminals across the United Kingdom and Europe have boosted security in the wake of the atrocities, and Belgium’s main airport is to remain closed at least until tonight.

Brussels airport bomb damage