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| Images of Belgian Premier’s Office Found on Laptop Linked to Brussels Attacks | Images of Belgian Premier’s Office Found on Laptop Linked to Brussels Attacks |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| BRUSSELS — A file with the floor plan and photographs of the office of the Belgian prime minister was found on a laptop computer discarded in a garbage can last week by one of the terrorists linked to the Brussels attacks, a government official said on Wednesday. | BRUSSELS — A file with the floor plan and photographs of the office of the Belgian prime minister was found on a laptop computer discarded in a garbage can last week by one of the terrorists linked to the Brussels attacks, a government official said on Wednesday. |
| The computer was found during a raid on Rue Max Roos in the Schaerbeek section of Brussels several hours after the attacks on March 22. | The computer was found during a raid on Rue Max Roos in the Schaerbeek section of Brussels several hours after the attacks on March 22. |
| The toll from the attacks at Brussels Airport and the Maelbeek subway station was revised downward on Tuesday, to 32 from 35, as the authorities finished identifying the victims. | The toll from the attacks at Brussels Airport and the Maelbeek subway station was revised downward on Tuesday, to 32 from 35, as the authorities finished identifying the victims. |
| Several Belgian newspapers, including L’Écho, De Tijd and De Morgen, reported on Wednesday that the information about the prime minister’s office, in Rue de la Loi, the site of regular meetings by cabinet ministers, had been found on the laptop. | Several Belgian newspapers, including L’Écho, De Tijd and De Morgen, reported on Wednesday that the information about the prime minister’s office, in Rue de la Loi, the site of regular meetings by cabinet ministers, had been found on the laptop. |
| A Belgian official familiar with the investigation confirmed those reports on Wednesday, but spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the case. | A Belgian official familiar with the investigation confirmed those reports on Wednesday, but spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the case. |
| On the same computer, investigators found a statement — described by the authorities as a will — by Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, one of three suicide bombers who carried out the attacks. | On the same computer, investigators found a statement — described by the authorities as a will — by Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, one of three suicide bombers who carried out the attacks. |
| In that statement, Mr. Bakraoui described himself as increasingly desperate and fearful of ending up in prison. | In that statement, Mr. Bakraoui described himself as increasingly desperate and fearful of ending up in prison. |
| Mr. Bakraoui and another man, Najim Laachraoui, blew themselves up at Brussels Airport, and Mr. Bakraoui’s younger brother, Khalid, detonated a suicide bomb at the Maelbeek subway station. | Mr. Bakraoui and another man, Najim Laachraoui, blew themselves up at Brussels Airport, and Mr. Bakraoui’s younger brother, Khalid, detonated a suicide bomb at the Maelbeek subway station. |
| The authorities are seeking a third airport attacker, a man seen on surveillance footage wearing a white jacket. They are also, according to Belgian news reports, looking for another person involved in the subway blast. | The authorities are seeking a third airport attacker, a man seen on surveillance footage wearing a white jacket. They are also, according to Belgian news reports, looking for another person involved in the subway blast. |
| Belgian news reports said the computer also contained precise information about the prime minister’s residence, which is known as the Lambermont and is steps from the United States Embassy. Secretary of State John Kerry met Prime Minister Charles Michel of Belgium at the residence on Friday. | Belgian news reports said the computer also contained precise information about the prime minister’s residence, which is known as the Lambermont and is steps from the United States Embassy. Secretary of State John Kerry met Prime Minister Charles Michel of Belgium at the residence on Friday. |
| L’Écho reported that Mr. Michel had been kept informed, that security around the office had been reinforced, and that the United States had been asked to help analyze and decrypt information on the computer. | L’Écho reported that Mr. Michel had been kept informed, that security around the office had been reinforced, and that the United States had been asked to help analyze and decrypt information on the computer. |
| On Wednesday, the Dutch minister of security and justice, Ard van der Steur, said that the intelligence division of the New York Police Department had warned the Dutch government, via the Dutch Embassy in Washington, on March 16 that the Bakraoui brothers had links to terrorism. | On Wednesday, the Dutch minister of security and justice, Ard van der Steur, said that the intelligence division of the New York Police Department had warned the Dutch government, via the Dutch Embassy in Washington, on March 16 that the Bakraoui brothers had links to terrorism. |
| Mr. van der Steur had said that the warning had come from the F.B.I., but in a statement on Wednesday, he acknowledged that he had erred in testimony before the Dutch Parliament. | Mr. van der Steur had said that the warning had come from the F.B.I., but in a statement on Wednesday, he acknowledged that he had erred in testimony before the Dutch Parliament. |
| It was not clear how the police in New York had become aware of the Bakraoui brothers, or why they had relayed the information to the Dutch authorities. | It was not clear how the police in New York had become aware of the Bakraoui brothers, or why they had relayed the information to the Dutch authorities. |
| News outlets in the Netherlands have reported that the government there passed the warning from the Americans on to the Belgians on March 17, one day after receiving it. | News outlets in the Netherlands have reported that the government there passed the warning from the Americans on to the Belgians on March 17, one day after receiving it. |
| The Turkish government arrested Ibrahim el-Bakraoui near the Turkish border with Syria in June, alerted the Belgian government about him, and then deported him to the Netherlands, at his request. | The Turkish government arrested Ibrahim el-Bakraoui near the Turkish border with Syria in June, alerted the Belgian government about him, and then deported him to the Netherlands, at his request. |
| Whether the Dutch and Belgian authorities sufficiently appreciated the gravity of the threat posed by Mr. Bakraoui and his brother is one of many strands that lawmakers and intelligence agencies are reviewing in the aftermath of the attacks, the worst violence on Belgian soil in decades. | Whether the Dutch and Belgian authorities sufficiently appreciated the gravity of the threat posed by Mr. Bakraoui and his brother is one of many strands that lawmakers and intelligence agencies are reviewing in the aftermath of the attacks, the worst violence on Belgian soil in decades. |
| Ibrahim el-Bakraoui had an extensive criminal record, and had received parole in October 2014 from a nine-year prison sentence for attempted murder. | Ibrahim el-Bakraoui had an extensive criminal record, and had received parole in October 2014 from a nine-year prison sentence for attempted murder. |
| Also on Wednesday, a court in Liège, Belgium, extended by one month the detention of a man known only as Abu Bakr A., who was arrested on March 24 and charged with terrorist activities, while a court in Brussels postponed proceedings against two Algerians arrested on Friday until April 7, at the request of their lawyers. | |
| The two Algerian men have been identified only as Abderrahmane A., 38, and Rabah M., 34 (who has previously been identified by the authorities as Rabah N. and Salah A.). They were arrested in connection with an investigation in France into Reda Kriket, who was accused last week of plotting a terrorist attack. | |
| Abderrahmane A., who was shot in the leg during a police raid in Schaerbeek on Friday, has been identified in French news reports as Abderahmane Ameroud. | Abderrahmane A., who was shot in the leg during a police raid in Schaerbeek on Friday, has been identified in French news reports as Abderahmane Ameroud. |
| According to French court records, Mr. Ameroud was accused of providing logistical support to two Tunisian suicide bombers who assassinated Ahmed Shah Massoud, the Afghan opposition leader who was killed two days before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. | According to French court records, Mr. Ameroud was accused of providing logistical support to two Tunisian suicide bombers who assassinated Ahmed Shah Massoud, the Afghan opposition leader who was killed two days before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. |
| Mr. Ameroud was convicted of complicity in the murder in 2005. He was also linked to an Afghan and Pakistani network that was suspected of training would-be jihadists in the forest close to Fontainebleau, near Paris, and in the French Alps. | Mr. Ameroud was convicted of complicity in the murder in 2005. He was also linked to an Afghan and Pakistani network that was suspected of training would-be jihadists in the forest close to 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. He was believed to have been deported after serving his sentence. | In 2007, Mr. Ameroud, an illegal Algerian immigrant, was also convicted of being part of a terrorist enterprise. He was believed to have been deported after serving his sentence. |