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3 Charged With Terrorist Activities in Belgium; Death Toll Rises to 35 Belgium Frees Man Charged With Terrorism, Renewing Search for Airport Attacker
(about 1 hour later)
PARIS — Three men have been charged in Belgium with participation in the activities of a terrorist group, the federal prosecutor’s office announced on Monday, as the death toll for the attacks in Brussels last week rose to 35. BRUSSELS — Belgium has conceded another enormous blunder in its investigation into the plotters of the attacks last week on Brussels. The authorities acknowledged on Monday that they had freed a man they had charged with terrorism and murder after he was mistakenly identified as a bomber in a dark hat and white coat in an airport surveillance photo.
The men — identified only as Yassine A., Mohamed B. and Aboubaker O. — were arrested on Sunday in police raids in and around Brussels. It was not clear whether they were connected to the attacks last Tuesday at Brussels Airport and at a subway station in the city. The man, who had been arrested on Thursday and charged on Friday, was released after three days in custody, during which some officials publicly vilified him as a terrorist. On Monday, the police said that the real suspect remained at large and they issued a new plea to the public to help identify one of the men who blew up a departures area at Brussels Airport.
The release of the man — who has been identified by the Belgian news media and Belgian officials as Fayçal Cheffou, a self-styled freelance journalist — is a stunning setback for the Belgian authorities, who have struggled for more than a year to get a handle on the growing threat by Islamic State militants. Officials have acknowledged serious missteps, including a failure to piece together vital pieces of evidence that might have averted the attacks last week.
“The evidence that had led to the arrest of the man named Fayçal C. was not confirmed by the evolution of the ongoing investigation,” Thierry Werts, a spokesman for the Belgian federal prosecutor, said in a statement. “Consequently, he has been freed by the investigative judge.”
Mr. Cheffou had been picked out of a photographic lineup by a cabdriver who shuttled three men to Brussels Airport, where two of them — later identified as Ibrahim el-Bakraoui and Najim Laachraoui — blew themselves up at 7:58 a.m. on Tuesday, and Mr. el-Bakraoui’s younger brother, Khalid, blew himself up at 9:11 a.m. at the Maelbeek subway station.
Over the weekend, the authorities were said to be analyzing DNA evidence to determine whether Mr. Cheffou was the third airport attacker. But without waiting for confirmation, Belgian officials spoke openly of Mr. Cheffou as a terrorist. On Twitter, Théo Francken, the state secretary for asylum and migration, called Mr. Cheffou “an extremist jihadi horror.”
The death toll rose on Monday to 35, as the authorities reported that four victims who had been hospitalized died from their injuries.
On Monday, the Belgian police again asked for help identifying the airport attacker, and they released for the first time CCTV footage showing him and the two attackers who died. The soundless footage, which appears to be slowed down, shows the three men pushing luggage carts with large black bags. The video focuses on the man in the white coat and dark hat and blurs out the rest. The man has a short black beard and also appears to be wearing glasses.
Also on Monday, the Belgian authorities announced that they had charged three men who were detained on Sunday with participation in the activities of a terrorist group.
The men — identified only as Yassine A., Mohamed B. and Aboubaker O. — were arrested in police raids in and around Brussels. It was not clear yet if they were connected to the attacks on Tuesday.
The Belgian police conducted 13 house searches on Sunday — four in Mechelen, a town about 20 miles north of Brussels; one in Duffel, about 25 miles north of the capital; and another eight in Brussels itself — and they arrested nine people, of whom six were released after questioning.The Belgian police conducted 13 house searches on Sunday — four in Mechelen, a town about 20 miles north of Brussels; one in Duffel, about 25 miles north of the capital; and another eight in Brussels itself — and they arrested nine people, of whom six were released after questioning.
The Belgian federal prosecutor’s office did not specify where the men charged on Monday had been arrested.
One man, identified as Fayçal C. by the authorities and as Fayçal Cheffou by the Belgian news media, was charged on Saturday with participating in a terrorist group, in terrorist murders and in attempted terrorist murders, in connection with the Brussels attacks.
The authorities are still trying to determine whether Mr. Cheffou was the man, wearing a dark hat and white coat, who was recorded in a surveillance image at the airport with the two suicide bombers.
On Monday, the Belgian police again asked for help identifying that man, and they released for the first time CCTV footage of the three airport suspects. The soundless footage, which appears to be slowed down, shows the three men pushing luggage carts with large black bags. The video focuses on the man in the white coat and dark hat and blurs out the rest. The man has a short black beard and also appears to be wearing glasses.
The authorities around Europe have intensified counterterrorism operations in the wake of the attacks, with arrests in at least five countries, some of them connected to the attacks in Brussels and others to the Paris attacks of Nov. 13.The authorities around Europe have intensified counterterrorism operations in the wake of the attacks, with arrests in at least five countries, some of them connected to the attacks in Brussels and others to the Paris attacks of Nov. 13.
The Belgian health minister, Maggie De Block, said on Monday that the death toll from the attacks last week had reached 35, after the death of four more victims while hospitalized. That toll did not include the two suicide bombers at Brussels Airport, near the town of Zaventem, nor the suicide bomber at the Maelbeek subway station.The Belgian health minister, Maggie De Block, said on Monday that the death toll from the attacks last week had reached 35, after the death of four more victims while hospitalized. That toll did not include the two suicide bombers at Brussels Airport, near the town of Zaventem, nor the suicide bomber at the Maelbeek subway station.