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Belgian Suicide Attacker Made Paris Bombs, Authorities Say Sweep Leads to 5 Arrests, a Foiled Plot and a Paris-Brussels Connection
(about 5 hours later)
BRUSSELS — One of the two men who blew themselves up at Brussels Airport on Tuesday was a bomb maker who helped produce at least two suicide vests used in the attacks that killed 130 people in and around Paris on Nov. 13, the Belgian authorities said on Friday. He is the most definitive link so far between the two sets of attacks. BRUSSELS — Counterterrorism officials widened a sweep targeting suspected Islamic State operatives to several European countries on Friday, reporting newly uncovered links between the Brussels and Paris massacres, at least five arrests and the foiling of what France described as an advanced plan for another attack.
The bomb maker — Najim Laachraoui, 24, a Belgian citizen — was an accomplice of Salah Abdeslam, 26, who was captured in Belgium last Friday after a four-month global manhunt and charged with terrorist murder, officials said. Mr. Abdeslam is suspected of being the sole surviving direct participant in the Paris attacks, and his arrest appears to have accelerated the plot that culminated in the attack on Brussels, which killed 31 people. The actions reflected both new momentum from information uncovered since the Brussels bombings on Tuesday and deep worries about missed opportunities to thwart the attacks. European officials, particularly in Belgium, have come under strong criticism for lapses that might have enabled the Brussels plotters to succeed.
Mr. Laachraoui traveled to Syria in February 2013. Last September, while using a false identity card, he and Mr. Abdeslam were stopped at the Hungarian-Austrian border, but not detained. He rented a house in Auvelais, Belgium, that was used by the attackers, and traces of his DNA were found in an apartment in the Schaerbeek section of Brussels that he used as a bomb-making lab. President François Hollande of France, who has declared a state of war with the Islamic State, praised the police work carried out in recent days but said that “we know that there are other networks” affiliated with the extremist organization and lurking in Europe.
On Monday — three days after Mr. Abdeslam was captured in Molenbeek, the Brussels neighborhood where he grew up — the authorities asked for help finding Mr. Laachraoui. “Even if the one that carried out the attacks in Paris and in Brussels is in the process of being wiped out — with a certain number of its members arrested — there is always a threat weighing upon us,” Mr. Hollande said in Paris.
But it was too late. At 7:58 a.m. on Tuesday, he blew himself up at Brussels Airport, along with another suicide bomber, Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, 29. Mr. Hollande’s warnings were reinforced by a newly released Islamic State propaganda video featuring what were described as two fighters from Belgium, apparently speaking from Iraqi territory seized by the organization and celebrating the Brussels attacks. “This is just the beginning of your nightmare,” one fighter proclaims, according to a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks extremist organizations.
News agencies had widely reported Mr. Laachraoui’s death, but officials awaited DNA results before confirming the news. On Friday, the federal prosecutor in Brussels confirmed the death, and also disclosed that Mr. Laachraoui’s DNA had been found on suicide vests that were set off at the Stade de France, north of Paris, and in the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, on Nov. 13. While European investigators already had established numerous links between suspects in the Paris and Brussels attacks, the Belgian prosecutor’s office confirmed the most direct connection on Friday. It said DNA matches showed that one of the bombers who blew himself up at the Brussels airport had been a bomb maker who helped produce two suicide vests used in the November Paris attacks, which killed 130 people.
Mr. Laachraoui was one of several central figures linking the Paris and Brussels attacks, and investigations have widened to encompass other countries and other suspects who are potentially involved in both. The man identified as the bomb maker — Najim Laachraoui, 24, a Belgian citizen — has been described by the Belgian prosecutor’s office as an accomplice of Salah Abdeslam, 26, who was captured in Belgium on March 18 and charged with terrorist murder. Mr. Abdeslam is thought to be the sole surviving direct participant in the Paris attacks, and his arrest appeared to have accelerated the plot that culminated in the attack on Brussels, which killed 31 people.
On Thursday night, the police in Düsseldorf, Germany, arrested a 28-year-old German long known to the authorities for having ties to Islamist extremists in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state. They were acting to prevent him from fleeing to Syria, a spokesman for the state prosecutor said. Mr. Laachraoui traveled to Syria in February 2013, the prosecutor’s office said. Last September, while using a false identity card, he and Mr. Abdeslam were stopped at the Hungarian-Austrian border, but not detained, according to the prosecutor’s office. He rented a house in Auvelais, Belgium, that the attackers used, and traces of his DNA were found in an apartment in the Schaerbeek section of Brussels that he used as a bomb-making lab, the prosecutor’s office said.
Turkey deported the German man and Mr. Bakraoui to the Netherlands last year, German news media and security officials said. “It is not clear whether they knew each other, and, if so, how well,” said Ralf Herrenbrück, a spokesman for the state prosecutor’s office in Düsseldorf. The German man was sentenced to two and a half years in prison earlier this month for a robbery, but had not yet started his sentence, German officials said. On Monday — three days after Mr. Abdeslam was captured in Molenbeek, the Brussels neighborhood where he grew up — the authorities asked for the public’s help in finding Mr. Laachraoui. A day later, he blew himself up at Brussels Airport, along with another suicide bomber, Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, 29.
Also on Friday, German officials disclosed that they had arrested a 28-year-old Moroccan during a routine identity check at a train station in Giessen, near Frankfurt. The police determined that the man had previously applied for asylum in Germany using other aliases, and had a criminal record in Italy. News agencies widely reported Mr. Laachraoui’s death, but officials awaited DNA results before confirming it. On Friday, the federal prosecutor in Brussels not only confirmed the death, but also disclosed that Mr. Laachraoui’s DNA had been found on suicide vests detonated in Paris.
He had been hospitalized for an unexplained injury on March 18 — the same day that Mr. Abdeslam was arrested in Brussels — and carried a cellphone with a text message with the word “fin” (French for “end”) received on Tuesday, shortly before the attacks in Brussels, the public broadcaster ARD reported. Another text message contained the name Khalid el-Bakraoui, according to the newsweekly Der Spiegel. Khalid el-Bakraoui, 27, Ibrahim’s younger brother, blew himself up at a Brussels subway station on Tuesday. The investigation also spread to Germany, where officials reported a suspected link between Mr. Bakraoui and a 28-year-old German in Düsseldorf who had ties to Islamist extremists and was about to serve a prison term for robbery. He was arrested Thursday night to prevent him from fleeing to Syria, according to the prosecutor’s office for North Rhine-Westphalia state.
“Law enforcement authorities have been examining whether a connection to the attacks in Brussels exists, and if so, to what extent,” Thomas Hauburger, a state prosecutor in Giessen, said. Turkey deported the German man and Mr. Bakraoui to the Netherlands last year on the same flight, German news agencies and security officials said. “It is not clear whether they knew each other, and, if so, how well,” said Ralf Herrenbrück, a spokesman for the state prosecutor’s office.
In Spain and the Netherlands, news agencies reported that European intelligence authorities were searching for Naïm al-Hamed, a 28-year-old Syrian, as part of the investigations into the Brussels attacks. Mr. Hamed was said to be linked to Mr. Laachraoui, Khalid el-Bakraoui and a third suspect, Mohamed Abrini, who is sought by the authorities. German officials also disclosed on Friday that they had arrested a 28-year-old Moroccan, who had a criminal record in Italy, during a routine identity check at a train station in Giessen, near Frankfurt. The man appeared to have circumstantial links to the Paris and Brussels assailants, the officials said.
Police operations in France and in Belgium over the last days also have shown that new plots and networks have yet to emerge. On Thursday, the French police arrested Reda Kriket, an Islamic State operative who, according to court records, raised money for jihadists in 2012-13 and traveled to Syria in late 2014. Mr. Kriket was well known to the security services in both France and Belgium, and he was named in a 2015 court proceeding along with Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the on-the-ground chief planner of the Paris attacks. He was hospitalized for an unexplained injury on March 18 — the same day that Mr. Abdeslam was arrested in Brussels, the public broadcaster ARD reported. The Moroccan man carried a cellphone with a text message with the word “fin” (French for “end”) that was received on Tuesday, shortly before the attacks in Brussels, ARD reported. According to the weekly newsmagazine Der Spiegel, another text message on the phone contained the name of Khalid el-Bakraoui, 27 — Ibrahim’s younger brother and the man identified as the suicide bomber at the Brussels subway station on Tuesday.
According to a French court transcript, “Reda Kriket appears to have played an important role in financing and providing material support to the group.” It said he had raised the funds through fraud and petty theft. In July, Mr. Kriket was convicted in Belgium in absentia of terrorist activities and possession of stolen goods. “Law enforcement authorities have been examining whether a connection to the attacks in Brussels exists, and if so, to what extent,” Thomas Hauburger, of the a state prosecutor’s office in Giessen, said.
After Mr. Kriket’s arrest, the French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said that Mr. Kriket had been involved in the “advanced stages” of a new terrorist plot. It was unclear whether that plot was directly connected to the attacks in Paris or Brussels. News agencies across Europe — in Spain and the Netherlands, as well as France and Belgium — reported that European intelligence authorities were searching for Naim al-Hamed, a 28-year-old Syrian, as part of the investigations into the Brussels attacks. Mr. Hamed was said to be linked to Mr. Laachraoui, Khalid el-Bakraoui and a third suspect, Mohamed Abrini, who is sought by the authorities.
On Friday, the Belgian police conducted a series of operations in Brussels, picking up three men for questioning in connection with Mr. Kriket’s arrest. One of the men was shot and arrested in the Schaerbeek neighborhood, in an operation that shook the area. On Thursday, the French police arrested Reda Kriket, who, according to court records, is a jihadist who raised money for a network of militants in 2012 and ’13 and traveled to Syria in late 2014. Mr. Kriket was well known to the security services in both France and Belgium, and he was named in a 2015 court proceeding along with Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the on-the-ground chief planner of the Paris attacks.
Ali Oucar, 29, was at a Ladbrokes sports-betting parlor when the man was shot. “I went outside for a smoke,” he said. “I saw people running, and I tried to see why. Then I saw the police in front of the Meiser train station, shouting to a guy, ‘Open your vest!’ The guy was with a kid. He refused to open the vest, and the police shot him twice.” In July, Mr. Kriket was convicted in absentia in Belgium of terrorist activities and possession of stolen goods.
Marios Kasinos, 34, a native of Cyprus, was enjoying a day off from work at his home in Schaerbeek when he suddenly heard loud gunfire. After Mr. Kriket’s arrest, the French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said Mr. Kriket had been involved in the “advanced stages” of a new terrorist plot. It was unclear whether that plot was directly connected to the attacks in Paris or Brussels.
“I called my friends immediately,” he said. “They told me I was being paranoid, but then within a few seconds, police and soldiers came over. I saw from my window people running, evacuating the streets, and the police making people step off a bus and a tram.” In Brussels on Friday, the police arrested three men for questioning in connection with Mr. Kriket’s arrest. One was shot and arrested in the Schaerbeek neighborhood, which was still unnerved from the bombings.
The Belgian government has come under heavy criticism for failures in intelligence, law enforcement and information sharing that have allowed Brussels to become a hub of terrorist planning in Europe. Ali Oucar, 29, was at a nearby Ladbrokes sports betting parlor when the man was shot. “I saw the police in front of the Meiser train station, shouting to a guy, ‘Open your vest!’ The guy was with a kid. He refused to open the vest, and the police shot him twice.”
At 2 p.m. on Friday, Interior Minister Jan Jambon and Justice Minister Koen Geens faced tough questions about the lapses from members of a parliamentary committee. The Belgian government is under pressure for failures in intelligence, law enforcement and information-sharing that may have allowed Brussels to become a hub for militants to plot attacks in Europe. Interior Minister Jan Jambon and Justice Minister Koen Geens offered to resign after the Brussels bombings, but Prime Minister Charles Michel asked them to stay.
Officials have acknowledged that they should have acted on an alert last year from Turkey about Ibrahim el-Bakraoui. He was detained in Turkey near the border with Syria on suspicion of terrorist activity, but the Belgian authorities never followed up. Mr. Bakraoui was deported to the Netherlands at his request and eluded the authorities. His younger brother was the subject of an arrest warrant issued in December, in connection with the Paris attacks. He, too, evaded capture. The Belgian officials have acknowledged some serious missteps, mostly notably their inaction on an alert last year from Turkey about Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, who had been detained in the town of Gaziantep, near the Syria border, on suspicion of terrorist activity. After the Belgian authorities did not follow up, Turkey deported Mr. Bakraoui at his request to the Netherlands, where officials have said they were not aware he was considered dangerous. Mr. Bakraoui’s brother was the target of an arrest warrant issued in December, in connection with the Paris attacks. He, too, evaded capture.
Mr. Abdeslam, who was captured on March 18, has refused to cooperate with the authorities since the attaks in Brussels, Belgian officials said. After the those attacks, investigators approached him. “He refused to make any kind of statement,” the Belgian prosecutor’s office said. Both brothers had criminal records and had been granted early release from prison after being incarcerated for crimes unrelated to terrorist activity.
Questions also were raised on Friday about whether the attacks in Brussels might have been avoided if Mr. Abdeslam had faced longer and tougher questioning following his arrest. At a parliamentary hearing on Friday, Mr. Jambon told lawmakers that he took responsibility but that subordinates had also been negligent. Mr. Geens said the Belgian penal authorities had no problems with the Bakraoui brothers, who had cooperated until they were released and then dropped from sight.
After accounts of his interrogation leaked in the media, the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office issued a statement saying that Mr. Abdeslam, who was wounded during his arrest, was only interrogated four days later for medical reasons, and that initial questions focused on his role in the Paris attacks. “Nevertheless,” Mr. Geens told the hearing, “I would like to say that we cannot exclude that if everyone had done their job to perfection, a certain number of things would have unfolded differently.”