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Jewish museum attack: 'Man arrested in France in connection with shooting' Brussels Jewish Museum attack: Man arrested in Marseille in connection with shooting
(about 1 hour later)
A Frenchman has reportedly been arrested over a suspected anti-Semitic attack at the Jewish Museum in Brussels that killed four people. A 29-year-old French former jihadist volunteer in Syria has been arrested in Marseille on suspicion of being the gunman who killed four people in an attack on a Jewish museum in Brussels last weekend.
Mehdi Nemmouche, 29, was arrested on Friday in Marseille, France, and was in possession of a Kalashnikov rifle and a handgun similar to the ones used in the attack on 24 May, sources told AFP. The man, named as Mehdi Nemmouche from Roubaix in northern France, was arrested by customs officers at Marseille bus station on Friday when guns and ammunition were found in his luggage.
He has been detained on suspicion of murder and attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise. Police sources said that a blue cap similar to that worn by the Brussels museum killer and a miniature film camera were also found in Mr Nemmouche’s bags when he arrived on an overnight coach from Amsterdam via Brussels.
Video footage of the attack showed a man walking into the museum's foyer and opening fire before calmly walking away. The suspect, who was known to French security services as a jihadist volunteer in Syria until last year, is refusing to answer questions, police sources said.
An Israeli couple in their 50s, a French museum attendant and a Belgian employee were shot dead. The guns found in his possession included a Kalashnikov and a revolver – similar to the weapons used by the man who killed four people in the Jewish museum in central Brussels last Saturday.
The timing of the attack on the eve of national elections in Belgium was seen as significant by some. If his involvement in the Brussels attack is proved, he will be the first ex-European volunteer with extreme Islamist groups in Syria to have committed an act of terrorism on his return to Europe.
A definitive motive has not been confirmed by officials but the Belgian Interior Minister, Joelle Milquet, and the Foreign Minister, Didier Reynders, said the location of the shooting suggested it was an anti-Semitic attack. The British and French governments have both expressed fears in recent weeks that European-born fighters in Syria could  commit violent attacks when they return.
Jewish community groups expressed outrage, with Moshe Kantor, the president of the Brussels-based European Jewish Congress (EJC), saying it was “horrific but not surprising”. French security sources described Mr Nemmouche’s behaviour as “amateurish” and not that of a jihadist trained by Al-Qaida or another radical anti-western or anti-jewish group.
“How many more deadly attacks at Jewish institutions does our community need to endure until European governments get serious with a climate of increasing hate towards Jews?” he asked. “It is our basic right as European citizens to go about our daily lives in full security.” To have carried guns in his luggage on a bus from Amsterdam to Marseilles – a route under high surveillance for possible drugs couriers -  was not the action of a highly trained or well-organised individual, they said.
He urged governments to do more to share intelligence and enact tough punishments for hate crimes. Roger Cukierman, president of the council of Jewish organisations in France, said that it would be a “huge relief” if the suspect did prove to be the Brussels killer.
Police increased security at Jewish sites across Belgium after the shooting and France enacted similar measures after two brothers were attacked near a synagogue in Paris. “While he was free, another attack was likely,” he said. “It it seems that the worst fears of western governments are being realised. The European jihadists in Syria are a time bomb waiting to go off.”
A remembrance ceremony for the victims is being held on Monday at the Grande Synagogue in Brussels. If the suspect’s involvement is proved, French security services may face criticism.  Mr Nemmouche has been under surveillance since he returned France from Syria last year.
His alleged involvement will also provoke comparisons with the Toulouse scooter killer, Mohamed Merah, 23, who was also under surveillance when he killed seven people, including three Jewish children, in 2012.
Like Merah, the Brussels killer is believed to have been carrying a Go Pro-type miniature film camera to record his attack.
Merah’s sister, Saoud, also slipped the net of security surveillance in France last month and left the country. She is believed to have travelled to the Turkish-Syrian border with her husband and four children.