AFP, Brussels :
Belgian police have arrested two people suspected of plotting attacks in Brussels during New Year festivities, just weeks after the jihadist bombings and shootings in Paris which were allegedly planned in Belgium.
The federal prosecutor’s office in Brussels, the home of the European Union and NATO, said Tuesday that police seized military-style training uniforms, computer hardware and Islamic State propaganda material in raids around the capital Brussels and in the Liege region.
But investigators said the police action on Sunday and Monday was not linked to the wave of deadly attacks in Paris in November which were claimed by the Islamic State group and which France says were prepared in Belgium.
One of the two was arrested on suspicion of planning attacks as well as “playing a lead role in the activities of a terrorist group and recruiting for terrorist acts,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
The second faced charges of planning and “participating in the activities of a terrorist group,” it said.
“The investigation cast a light on serious threats of attacks believed to be aimed at several emblematic sites in Brussels and carried out during the end-of-year celebrations.”
In response, Belgium’s OCAM national crisis centre late Monday raised its alert level for police and soldiers in Brussels, “which could be symbolic targets,” a spokesman told AFP.
The Belga news agency, citing an internal police memo, said there “exists a possible and credible threat of Paris-style attacks” against the high-profile Grand Place, the neighbouring central police station as well as soldiers and police in uniform.
Tourists and others flock to the Grand Place, the opulent central square of Brussels.
Media reported that the city authorities will decide Wednesday whether to go ahead with a New Year’s Eve fireworks display at Place de Brouckere, another central square.
In the last year, the Belgian authorities have deployed troops in addition to police reinforcements outside many locations in Brussels, including European Union buildings and foreign diplomatic missions, amid growing fears of jihadist attacks.
The raids, which were ordered by an investigating magistrate in Brussels who specialises in terrorism cases, turned up neither weapons nor explosives.
Belgian police have arrested two people suspected of plotting attacks in Brussels during New Year festivities, just weeks after the jihadist bombings and shootings in Paris which were allegedly planned in Belgium.
The federal prosecutor’s office in Brussels, the home of the European Union and NATO, said Tuesday that police seized military-style training uniforms, computer hardware and Islamic State propaganda material in raids around the capital Brussels and in the Liege region.
But investigators said the police action on Sunday and Monday was not linked to the wave of deadly attacks in Paris in November which were claimed by the Islamic State group and which France says were prepared in Belgium.
One of the two was arrested on suspicion of planning attacks as well as “playing a lead role in the activities of a terrorist group and recruiting for terrorist acts,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
The second faced charges of planning and “participating in the activities of a terrorist group,” it said.
“The investigation cast a light on serious threats of attacks believed to be aimed at several emblematic sites in Brussels and carried out during the end-of-year celebrations.”
In response, Belgium’s OCAM national crisis centre late Monday raised its alert level for police and soldiers in Brussels, “which could be symbolic targets,” a spokesman told AFP.
The Belga news agency, citing an internal police memo, said there “exists a possible and credible threat of Paris-style attacks” against the high-profile Grand Place, the neighbouring central police station as well as soldiers and police in uniform.
Tourists and others flock to the Grand Place, the opulent central square of Brussels.
Media reported that the city authorities will decide Wednesday whether to go ahead with a New Year’s Eve fireworks display at Place de Brouckere, another central square.
In the last year, the Belgian authorities have deployed troops in addition to police reinforcements outside many locations in Brussels, including European Union buildings and foreign diplomatic missions, amid growing fears of jihadist attacks.
The raids, which were ordered by an investigating magistrate in Brussels who specialises in terrorism cases, turned up neither weapons nor explosives.
