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Version 2 Version 3
New Brussels Attack Suspect Is Charged, Prosecutors Say New Brussels Attack Suspect Is Charged, Prosecutors Say
(about 4 hours later)
BRUSSELS — Federal prosecutors in Belgium announced Saturday that they had arrested a suspect believed to have been deeply involved in the Brussels plot. He was charged with participating in a terrorist group, in terrorist murders and in attempted terrorist murders.BRUSSELS — Federal prosecutors in Belgium announced Saturday that they had arrested a suspect believed to have been deeply involved in the Brussels plot. He was charged with participating in a terrorist group, in terrorist murders and in attempted terrorist murders.
The man was identified by the authorities as Fayçal C. and in the Belgian press as Fayçal Cheffou, an independent journalist.The man was identified by the authorities as Fayçal C. and in the Belgian press as Fayçal Cheffou, an independent journalist.
Eric Van der Sijpt, a spokesman for the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office, said Saturday that the authorities were trying to confirm whether Mr. Cheffou is the man caught in a surveillance photograph on Tuesday right before the bombs went off at Brussels Aiport. The man, shown wearing a white coat and a dark hat and pushing a luggage cart, is believed to have escaped after two accomplices detonated their explosives. Eric Van der Sijpt, a spokesman for the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office, said Saturday that the authorities were trying to determine if Mr. Cheffou is the man caught in a surveillance photograph on Tuesday right before the bombs went off at Brussels Airport. The man, shown wearing a white coat and a dark hat and pushing a luggage cart, is believed to have escaped around the same time as two accomplices detonated their explosives.
The police found no weapons or explosives during a search of Mr. Cheffou’s home.The police found no weapons or explosives during a search of Mr. Cheffou’s home.
Mr. Cheffou appears to have made a video in July 2014 in which he stands in front of a detention center for refugees and asylum seekers in Steenokkerzeel, near Zaventem, where the Brussels Airport is. In the video, Mr. Cheffou criticizes the government for serving Muslim refugees meals before the end of the daily fast during the month of Ramadan. Mr. Cheffou appears to have made a video in July 2014 in which he stands in front of a detention center for refugees and asylum seekers in Steenokkerzeel, near Zaventem, where Brussels Airport is. In the video, Mr. Cheffou criticizes the government for serving Muslim refugees meals before the end of the daily fast during the month of Ramadan.
He was taken into custody on Thursday, and the judge in charge of the case issued a formal arrest warrant on Friday in keeping with Belgian law, which requires a hearing before a judge and a warrant to be issued within 24 hours to keep a suspect in detention.He was taken into custody on Thursday, and the judge in charge of the case issued a formal arrest warrant on Friday in keeping with Belgian law, which requires a hearing before a judge and a warrant to be issued within 24 hours to keep a suspect in detention.
Three other men were also detained in Brussels for further questioning, the prosecutor’s office said. One was identified as Rabah N., who was mistakenly identified as Salah A. in a previous news release, the prosecutor’s office said.Three other men were also detained in Brussels for further questioning, the prosecutor’s office said. One was identified as Rabah N., who was mistakenly identified as Salah A. in a previous news release, the prosecutor’s office said.
Rabah N. is accused of being connected to Reda Kriket, the suspect detained on Thursday near Paris by the French authorities. The French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said on Thursday that Mr. Kriket was in the advanced stages of planning an attack in France.Rabah N. is accused of being connected to Reda Kriket, the suspect detained on Thursday near Paris by the French authorities. The French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said on Thursday that Mr. Kriket was in the advanced stages of planning an attack in France.
Mr. Kriket is a jihadist who raised money for a network of militants in 2012 and 2013 and traveled to Syria in late 2014. He 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.Mr. Kriket is a jihadist who raised money for a network of militants in 2012 and 2013 and traveled to Syria in late 2014. He 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.
Although details of the plot involving Mr. Kriket have not yet emerged, the authorities have said that so far it was not linked to the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris or the attacks in Brussels this past week.Although details of the plot involving Mr. Kriket have not yet emerged, the authorities have said that so far it was not linked to the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris or the attacks in Brussels this past week.
Two other men were also being held. One, identified as Abderamane A., was shot by the police and subdued at a tram stop in the Schaerbeek section of Brussels on Friday. Specific charges have not been filed yet, but the police said they were keeping him for an additional 24 hours for questioning. Two other men were also being held. One, named in the prosecutor’s statement as Abderamane A., has a criminal record in France, according to press reports from the time of his trial that gave his full name as Abderahmane Ameroud. He was 27 years old when he was accused of providing logistical support to the two Tunisian suicide bombers who assassinated Ahmed Shah Massoud, the Afghan opposition leader, in 2001, and was convicted of complicity in the murder in 2005.
The other man, Aboubaker A., was formally arrested and charged with participation in a terrorist group. A man detained with him in a car was released. He was also linked to an Afghan and Pakistani network that was suspected of training would-be jihadists in the forest of Fontainebleau near Paris and in the French Alps. In 2007, Mr. Ameroud, an illegal Algerian immigrant, was also convicted of being part of a terrorist enterprise.
The Massoud assassination took place two days before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in New York and at the Pentagon, and both were organized by Al Qaeda.
His lawyer at the time of his trial, Isabelle Coutant-Peyre, said Saturday in an interview that Mr. Ameroud was “a really nice, sweet and polite person” who was singled out because he was an illegal immigrant in France. She said she had never been convinced of his guilt.
“He was on trial with six other people at the time and none of them seemed to know each other,” she said. “He was accused of having been to Afghanistan before Massoud’s death but it was based on notes from French intelligence and nothing really substantial.”
He was sentenced in 2005 to seven years and spent his jail time in a French prison at Fleury-Mérogis in a Paris suburb and at Prison de la Santé, which is in Paris. Ms. Coutant-Peyre said she believed that he had been deported to Algeria after serving his sentence.
Mr. Ameroud was shot by the police on Friday and subdued at a tram stop in the Schaerbeek section of Brussels. Specific charges have not been filed yet, but the police said they were keeping him for an additional 24 hours for questioning.
The fourth man who the prosecutor said Saturday was being held and charged with participation in a terrorist group is named Aboubaker A. A man detained with him in a car was released.
The investigating judge in charge of these cases also released a second person on Saturday, Tawfik A., after he was detained Friday for questioning.The investigating judge in charge of these cases also released a second person on Saturday, Tawfik A., after he was detained Friday for questioning.
In Brussels, organizers canceled a “march against fear” planned for Sunday after the Belgian authorities urged people not to gather, citing the threat level and worries that the police would be stretched too thin to protect the march while also continuing the investigation into the attacks.
“We invite citizens not to demonstrate tomorrow and to postpone their march to a later date,” the Brussels police said in a statement after a news conference held by the interior minister and the mayor of Brussels.
“We understand that everybody wants to express their emotions in these circumstances,” the statement added.
On the Facebook page set up by the organizers of the march, some users said they understood the need to cancel the event, but others disagreed.
“By canceling we are showing them that we are afraid and they will have won,” said a user named Aurore Vandenborre. “I will be at the Bourse tomorrow,” she added, referring to the pedestrian square in front of Brussels’ 19th-century stock exchange building, where people have gathered around makeshift memorials since the attacks.
The Belgian federal crisis center also published a brochure on Saturday titled “Terrorist Attack: What Next?” that provided guidelines for those with questions like “How do children react to traumatic events?” and “What can you do for someone who survived an attack or someone who lost a loved one?”
Brussels Airport said Saturday that it would remain closed until at least Tuesday.