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Italy Arrests Algerian Tied to Forgery in Paris and Brussels Attacks Italy Arrests Algerian Tied to Forgery in Paris and Brussels Attacks
(about 4 hours later)
BRUSSELS — An Algerian man who was part of a counterfeiting ring that provided forged documents used in both the Paris and Brussels terrorist attacks has been arrested in Italy, the Italian authorities announced Sunday. BRUSSELS — An Algerian man who was part of a counterfeiting ring that provided forged documents to people involved in the Paris and Brussels terrorist attacks has been arrested in Italy, the Italian authorities announced Sunday.
The Belgian government issued a European arrest warrant for the man — whom the ANSA news agency identified as Djamal Eddine Ouali, 40 — on Jan. 6, the Italian State Police said. Mr. Ouali’s name emerged during searches carried out in October in the Saint-Gilles borough of Brussels, which yielded around 1,000 digital images used to make false identity documents. The Belgian government issued a European arrest warrant for the man — whom the ANSA news agency identified as Djamal Eddine Ouali, 40 — on Jan. 6, the Italian State Police said. Mr. Ouali’s name emerged during searches carried out in October in the Saint-Gilles borough of Brussels, where the police found around 1,000 digital images used to make false identity documents.
ANSA reported that the forgery ring produced false documents used by three men: Mohamed Belkaid, who was killed in a police raid on March 15 in Brussels; Salah Abdeslam, the last surviving participant in the Paris attacks, who was captured in Brussels on March 18; and Najim Laachraoui, one of two suicide attackers who struck Brussels Airport on Tuesday. ANSA reported that the forgery ring produced false documents used by three men: Mohamed Belkaid, who was killed in a police raid on March 15 in Brussels; Salah Abdeslam, a suspect in the Paris attacks, who was captured in Brussels on March 18; and Najim Laachraoui, one of two suicide attackers who struck Brussels Airport on Tuesday.
The Algerian man recently applied at his local immigration office for a residency permit, and a police check determined that he was wanted by the Belgians. He was arrested while walking on Saturday afternoon in Bellizzi, a town in the southwestern Salerno Province. The Algerian man recently applied at an immigration office in Italy for a residency permit, and a police check determined that he was wanted by the Belgian authorities. He was arrested while walking on Saturday afternoon in Bellizzi, a town in southwestern Salerno Province.
The Belgian prosecutor’s office issued a news release on Sunday saying that 13 searches had been carried out that morning in French- and Flemish-speaking areas of Belgium. The release said the arrests were related to a terrorism case but did not say whether they were directly tied to the attacks in Brussels. Nine people were taken in for questioning, with five of them later released. The prosecutor’s office said no further details were available, pending the outcome of the searches. The Belgian prosecutor’s office issued a news release on Sunday saying that 13 searches had been carried out that morning in French- and Flemish-speaking areas of Belgium. They were related to a terrorism case, according to the release, which did not say whether they were directly tied to the attacks in Brussels. Nine people were brought in for questioning, and five of them were released. The prosecutor’s office said no further details were available, pending the outcome of the searches.
As investigators in several countries pursued leads in an intensifying effort to prevent Islamic State militants from carrying out additional attacks, Belgians quietly marked Easter. As investigators in several countries pursued leads in an intensifying effort to prevent Islamic State militants from carrying out additional attacks, Belgians observed the Easter holiday.
The streets in central Brussels were quiet, nearly empty, on Sunday morning. At a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse, named for the city’s stock exchange, the television crews were gone, but people continued to leave candles, flowers and tokens of sympathy for the victims of the attacks and their families. Others wrote messages like, “We pray,” in colored chalk, on the sidewalk. The streets in central Brussels were quiet, nearly empty, on Sunday morning. At a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse, named for the city’s stock exchange, television crews were gone, but people continued to leave candles, flowers and tokens of sympathy for the victims of the attacks and their families. Others wrote messages like “We pray” in colored chalk on the sidewalk.
A “March Against Fear,” planned for Sunday, was called off on Saturday at the urging of the authorities, who worried that the police would be stretched too thin if they had to protect marchers while trying to guard the city.A “March Against Fear,” planned for Sunday, was called off on Saturday at the urging of the authorities, who worried that the police would be stretched too thin if they had to protect marchers while trying to guard the city.
In his Easter homily, Jozef De Kesel, the archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels and the top Roman Catholic prelate in Belgium, called the attacks “beyond comprehension.” However, later in the day, angry right-wing demonstrators gathered at the makeshift memorial in the square near the stock exchange. They picked fights with mourners who had turned out and confronted riot police officers who moved in to clear the square.
“Easter is a celebration of hope — Christ is reborn; he vanquished evil and death,” Archbishop De Kesel said in his homily, which was delivered at the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula and released to the Belgian news media the previous night. “But what does this mean? More than ever, we realize that hope is always contested.” He urged Belgians to “resist evil and despair,” adding: “This is the power of faith that does not yield to anxiety.” In his Easter homily, Jozef De Kesel, the archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels and the top Roman Catholic prelate in Belgium, said the attacks last week were “beyond comprehension.”
On Saturday evening, the Belgian federal crisis center announced that the attack had killed 28 victims. The death toll originally stood at 31, but that figure included the three suicide attackers — two who struck the airport, and one who bombed a subway train as it left the Maelbeek station near the headquarters of the European Union. “Easter is a celebration of hope — Christ is reborn, he vanquished evil and death,” Archbishop De Kesel said in his homily, which was delivered at the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula and released to the Belgian news media the night before. “But what does this mean? More than ever, we realize that hope is always contested.” He urged Belgians to “resist evil and despair,” adding: “This is the power of faith that does not yield to anxiety.”
On Saturday evening, the Belgian federal crisis center announced that the attack had killed 28 victims. The death toll was originally 31, but that figure included the bodies of three suicide attackers — two who struck the airport, and one who bombed a subway train as it left the Maelbeek station, near the headquarters of the European Union.
The process of identifying the dead has been agonizingly slow in some cases, causing anguish for families whose loved ones have been reported missing. The identification process has taken time because investigators “want to be 100 percent certain and not make mistakes,” the crisis center said in a statement.The process of identifying the dead has been agonizingly slow in some cases, causing anguish for families whose loved ones have been reported missing. The identification process has taken time because investigators “want to be 100 percent certain and not make mistakes,” the crisis center said in a statement.
Of the 28 dead, 24 have been positively identified — 14 from the airport and 10 from the subway station. Of those 24, 13 were Belgian and 11 were foreigners. Of the 28 dead, 24 have been positively identified, 14 from the airport and 10 from the subway station. Of those 24, 13 were Belgian and 11 were foreigners.
The number of people injured stood at 340, of whom 101 were still hospitalized at 33 locations, 62 of them in intensive care units and 32 at a burn center.The number of people injured stood at 340, of whom 101 were still hospitalized at 33 locations, 62 of them in intensive care units and 32 at a burn center.
The dead included people from eight nations; the injured, 19.The dead included people from eight nations; the injured, 19.