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Brussels man surrounded in 'bomb alert' Brussels bomb alert was 'false alarm'
(35 minutes later)
Police in Brussels say they have surrounded a man who was behaving suspiciously and wearing a heavy winter coat with protruding wires. A large police operation in the Belgian capital which lasted all afternoon was a false alarm, officials say.
A large police operation is underway near Place de la Monnaie in the centre of the Belgian capital. Police were called following reports that a man was acting suspiciously and wearing a coat with wires protruding.
Several hours after the stand-off began, police tweeted that the situation was "unchanged". The operation has ended and the man was apparently a student of nuclear radiation at university in Brussels.
The bomb squad is present. Shops nearby have been evacuated and several streets are closed. The city was on high alert ahead of Belgium's National Day on Thursday. An attack in Nice on France's Bastille Day last week left 84 people dead.
Photos from the scene show a man kneeling with his hands up, while police point their guns at him. The bomb squad was called, shops evacuated and several streets closed.
Police say that they have the suspect "under control" but have not yet arrested him. The cordon remains in place. The BBC's Gavin Lee in Brussels says police approached the man, who was wearing what had appeared to be a suicide vest.
After an hour of negotiation, the man was arrested, and the device appeared to be fake, he says.
Christian De Coninck of Brussels police told Belgian TV that police did not want to take any risks:
"We got a call about someone acting suspiciously. Someone with a heavy winter coat - in these temperatures it's very suspicious."We got a call about someone acting suspiciously. Someone with a heavy winter coat - in these temperatures it's very suspicious.
"And there were wires coming out of the coat too," Christian De Coninck of Brussels police told Belgian TV. "We didn't take any risks. The person was stopped and kept at a distance. "And there were wires coming out of the coat too... The person was stopped and kept at a distance."
"We are now waiting for more information from the bomb disposal unit which is at the scene now and then we'll know more."
It was 30C in Brussels on Wednesday afternoon.It was 30C in Brussels on Wednesday afternoon.
The BBC's Gavin Lee, in Brussels, says there are special forces at the scene, which is just outside a bar called Churchill's.
This comes a day ahead of Belgium's National Day, with heightened security in Brussels for the festivities.
Thirty-two people were killed in bomb attacks in Brussels earlier this year.Thirty-two people were killed in bomb attacks in Brussels earlier this year.
Last month, a man was arrested amid an anti-terror operation at a shopping centre in the city. Prosecutors said he was wearing a fake suicide belt containing salt and biscuits.Last month, a man was arrested amid an anti-terror operation at a shopping centre in the city. Prosecutors said he was wearing a fake suicide belt containing salt and biscuits.