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Belgian Police Release New Video of Brussels Airport Suspect Belgian Police Release New Video of Brussels Airport Suspect
(about 1 hour later)
PARIS — The Belgian authorities released video footage on Thursday that retraced the steps of a man suspected of taking part in the March 22 bombing of the Brussels Airport and renewed their appeal to the public for help in identifying him.PARIS — The Belgian authorities released video footage on Thursday that retraced the steps of a man suspected of taking part in the March 22 bombing of the Brussels Airport and renewed their appeal to the public for help in identifying him.
The video, presented at a news conference at the federal prosecutor’s office in Brussels, shows surveillance-camera footage of the suspect in the nearly two hours after the attacks at the airport, where two suicide bombers detonated explosives contained in large black luggage.The video, presented at a news conference at the federal prosecutor’s office in Brussels, shows surveillance-camera footage of the suspect in the nearly two hours after the attacks at the airport, where two suicide bombers detonated explosives contained in large black luggage.
A third suicide bomber detonated explosives at the Maelbeek subway station in central Brussels a little over an hour later. Thirty-two people were killed and over 340 wounded in the series of attacks. A third suicide bomber detonated explosives at the Maelbeek subway station in central Brussels a little over an hour later. Thirty-two people were killed and over 340 wounded in the series of attacks, which were claimed by the Islamic State. On Thursday, the Belgian health minister, Maggie De Block, said that 57 people were still hospitalized, 28 of them in intensive care.
The Belgian authorities had already issued a wanted notice for the suspect, known as the “man in the hat” because of his appearance in a photograph that was released soon after the attacks.The Belgian authorities had already issued a wanted notice for the suspect, known as the “man in the hat” because of his appearance in a photograph that was released soon after the attacks.
The footage released on Thursday by the Belgian federal police, with French and Flemish voice-overs, provided a first look at how the suspect left the airport right after the bombings, and where he went. Belgian investigators are still working to identify the people who organized and carried out the attacks.
But their task has been complicated by overlapping networks — some of the Brussels attackers have been linked to the November terrorist attacks in Paris — and by the use of fake identifications, meaning it is still unclear how many suspects were involved or are still on the run.
In addition to the man in the hat, French and Belgian news media have reported that the police are looking for a man seen on surveillance footage alongside the subway bomber.
The footage released on Thursday by the Belgian federal police, with French and Flemish voice-overs, provided a first look at how the man in the hat left the airport right after the bombings, and where he went.
“After the bombs exploded at 7:58, the man wearing a bright jacket and a hat went out of the building, walked past the Sheraton hotel, turned right toward the Avis car parking lot and left the airport area,” the video commentary said.“After the bombs exploded at 7:58, the man wearing a bright jacket and a hat went out of the building, walked past the Sheraton hotel, turned right toward the Avis car parking lot and left the airport area,” the video commentary said.
The video, using images from Google Maps, outlines the suspect’s trajectory with a red dot. The surveillance footage shows him walking away from the airport in the midst of travelers and bystanders. Although at one point he can be seen jogging lightly, he appears to be walking at a normal pace most of the time.The video, using images from Google Maps, outlines the suspect’s trajectory with a red dot. The surveillance footage shows him walking away from the airport in the midst of travelers and bystanders. Although at one point he can be seen jogging lightly, he appears to be walking at a normal pace most of the time.
The suspect then walked through Zaventem, the town several miles northeast of Brussels where the airport is, and got rid of his jacket, according to the video commentary.The suspect then walked through Zaventem, the town several miles northeast of Brussels where the airport is, and got rid of his jacket, according to the video commentary.
“The jacket he left behind is bright, with a hood which is dark inside,” the video said, providing close-up pictures of the clothing. “Should this jacket be found, this might give invaluable information to the investigators.”“The jacket he left behind is bright, with a hood which is dark inside,” the video said, providing close-up pictures of the clothing. “Should this jacket be found, this might give invaluable information to the investigators.”
The suspect was seen at 8:50 a.m. at the intersection of two roads in Zaventem, at which point he was wearing “a bright shirt with rolled-up sleeves,” which the police said appeared to be “bright blue with yokes on the elbows.” He was also wearing “dark trousers and brown shoes with a large white sole,” the video said.The suspect was seen at 8:50 a.m. at the intersection of two roads in Zaventem, at which point he was wearing “a bright shirt with rolled-up sleeves,” which the police said appeared to be “bright blue with yokes on the elbows.” He was also wearing “dark trousers and brown shoes with a large white sole,” the video said.
The suspect was then recorded by closed-circuit TV in Schaerbeek, a neighborhood of Brussels that is southwest of Zaventem — first at 9:42 a.m. and again at 9:49 a.m. He was last caught on camera at 9:50 a.m., at the intersection of the Avenue de la Brabançonne and the Rue du Noyer in Schaerbeek, according to the police video.The suspect was then recorded by closed-circuit TV in Schaerbeek, a neighborhood of Brussels that is southwest of Zaventem — first at 9:42 a.m. and again at 9:49 a.m. He was last caught on camera at 9:50 a.m., at the intersection of the Avenue de la Brabançonne and the Rue du Noyer in Schaerbeek, according to the police video.
“If you saw a left-behind bright-colored jacket between the airport and the Chaussée de Louvain,” the narrator says, “or if you saw the offender while he was on the run, or if you know which way he went afterward, please contact the investigators.” Schaerbeek, a mixed community with a sizeable immigrant population, has been tied to both the Brussels attacks and the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris.
The DNA of Najim Laachraoui, one of the Brussels Airport suicide bombers, was found in a rented apartment there on Rue Henri Bergé. Investigators believe the apartment was used as a place to make suicide vests for the Paris assailants.
After the Brussels attacks, Belgian police discovered bomb-making equipment in another apartment in Schaerbeek, on Rue Max Roos, where investigators also found a discarded computer containing the “will” of the second airport suicide bomber, Ibrahim el-Bakraoui. His brother, Khalid, was the subway station bomber.
“If you saw a left-behind bright-colored jacket between the airport and the Chaussée de Louvain,” the narrator says, referring to a street that enters Schaerbeek, “or if you saw the offender while he was on the run, or if you know which way he went afterward, please contact the investigators.”
The Belgian federal prosecutor’s office also made a series of announcements later on Thursday over cases that are not directly connected to the Brussels attacks, but that have underscored the complex array of networks and suspected terrorist plots currently being investigated in France and Belgium.
The prosecutor’s office said that a court in Brussels had extended by one month the detentions of three men arrested on March 27 in connection with an unspecified terrorism investigation, of two Algerian men linked to a foiled plot in France, and of three Belgian men who were detained in connection with the Paris attacks.
The prosecutor’s office also announced one additional month of detention for Salah Abdeslam, believed to be the sole surviving direct participant in the Paris attacks, who was arrested in Brussels on March 18 after a four-month manhunt.
Earlier on Thursday, Mr. Abdeslam’s Belgian lawyer, Sven Mary, told reporters in Brussels that it would take several weeks before his client was extradited to France and that the Belgian authorities wanted to question him about a deadly raid in the Forest section of Brussels that police officers conducted several days before Mr. Abdeslam’s arrest.
The detention of a suspected accomplice of Mr. Abdeslam, who was arrested alongside him and has been identified as Amine Choukri, but also Soufien Ayari, was also extended, the prosecutor’s office said.
Separately, the police in Copenhagen arrested four men suspected of joining the Islamic State while in Syria, with the intention of committing terrorist crimes, the authorities said on Thursday.Separately, the police in Copenhagen arrested four men suspected of joining the Islamic State while in Syria, with the intention of committing terrorist crimes, the authorities said on Thursday.
The men were detained in several different areas of the Danish capital around 10 a.m., said Mads Jensen, a spokesman for the Copenhagen police, as part of a joint operation with the Danish security services.The men were detained in several different areas of the Danish capital around 10 a.m., said Mads Jensen, a spokesman for the Copenhagen police, as part of a joint operation with the Danish security services.
He added that searches had been performed, and that ammunition and weapons had been seized. The suspects will be arraigned on Friday at a closed hearing.He added that searches had been performed, and that ammunition and weapons had been seized. The suspects will be arraigned on Friday at a closed hearing.
According to an April report released by the International Center for Counterterrorism in The Hague, more fighters have returned to Denmark from Syria on a per-capita basis than to any other country in Europe.According to an April report released by the International Center for Counterterrorism in The Hague, more fighters have returned to Denmark from Syria on a per-capita basis than to any other country in Europe.
In neighboring Sweden, a 20-year-old man who was taken into custody in Stockholm on Feb. 11 on suspicion of planning a terrorist act was charged on Thursday. The prosecutor said the man, whose identity has not been released, was planning a suicide attack. It would have been the first in Sweden since Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly killed himself and wounded two others in 2010.In neighboring Sweden, a 20-year-old man who was taken into custody in Stockholm on Feb. 11 on suspicion of planning a terrorist act was charged on Thursday. The prosecutor said the man, whose identity has not been released, was planning a suicide attack. It would have been the first in Sweden since Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly killed himself and wounded two others in 2010.