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Allah-Las gig cancelled in Rotterdam due to terrorism warning Second arrest after Rotterdam gig cancelled after terror tip-off
(about 1 hour later)
Dutch police say they have detained a man in the eastern Brabant province in connection with a threat that forced the cancellation of a concert by a US rock band in the port city of Rotterdam. A second man has been arrested as Dutch police investigate a terror threat that led to the cancellation of a concert in Rotterdam on Wednesday.
Police spokesman Roland Ekkers said a 22-year-old man was detained in the early hours of Thursday. No further details about his arrest were immediately available. The concert by the US rock band Allah-Las was called off after Spanish authorities warned of a possible terror plot targeting the venue.
US band the Allah-Las cancelled a gig in Rotterdam at the last minute on Wednesday after Spanish police tipped Dutch authorities off about a terror threat. A Spanish man in a white Spanish-registered van containing some gas canisters was detained for questioning near the concert venue hours later. Dutch police confirmed they had arrested a 22-year-old man in the early hours of Thursday. “He is in custody and will be questioned about the threat in Rotterdam,” police said, adding that a thorough search of his home had been conducted. The man was detained in Brabant, a province to the south of Rotterdam, but it is not known where he is being held.
Ekkers said the Spanish man was drunk and will be questioned later. Ekkers said it is “not likely” that the suspect is a terror threat. But the driver of a Spanish-registered white van carrying gas canisters, who was arrested on Wednesday night, may not be a suspect.
A Spanish counterterrorism official said the Spanish-registered van was not believed to be connected to the attacks that killed 15 people in Barcelona and Cambrils last week. The man, a repairman, had been driving close to the Maassilo concert venue where the band had been due to perform. Police said he was possibly drunk and will be questioned further on Thursday.
The official said a possible link between the driver and the extremist cell that carried out the Catalonia attacks was ruled out after questioning the driver and examining the van. Explosives experts checked his van and found nothing suspicious beyond the gas canisters. A search of the man’s home “uncovered no link with the terror threat … at the Maassilo,” police said. “The man, a repair man, had an explanation for the gas canisters that will be investigated today.”
The van driver was questioned for about two hours after a concert by the Los Angeles band Allah-Las was called off after Dutch police received a terror warning. Rotterdam’s mayor, Ahmed Aboutaleb, said the warning came from Spanish police. Spanish authorities had already said it was unlikely there was any connection between the van and the attacks that killed 15 people in Barcelona and Cambrils last week.
After military explosives experts had checked the van the vehicle was driven away by a police officer, the Dutch broadcaster NOS reported. The terrorist cell had been plotting attacks on a much larger scale, one suspect told a Spanish court, as more details emerged of the bomb factory in Catalonia where the group had been making explosives and suicide vests, before an explosion caused them to change plans.
Police said the van contained “a couple of gas bottles”. Spanish counter-terrorism police received “an alert indicating the possibility of an attack [on Wednesday] in a concert that was going to take place in Rotterdam”.
The Dutch terror threat level, which is at level four of a five-step scale, remained unchanged, said Lodewijk Hekking, a spokesman for the country’s counterterror chief. The venue, a former grain silo, was evacuated before the event began, with organisers citing an “unspecified threat”.
The Spanish counterterrorism investigation official said Spain’s civil guard received “an alert indicating the possibility of an attack today in a concert that was going to take place in Rotterdam”. Dutch television showed officers in body armour outside Maassilo and what appeared to be members of the band leaving the venue in a white van with a police escort. By midnight, the area was calm and police had lifted the cordon, Dutch television station NOS reported.
Police in Spain have been investigating the deadly vehicle attacks last week in and near Barcelona. They later found bomb-making equipment that included more than 100 tanks of butane gas, nails and 500 litres of acetone.
Rotterdam police said they took the information about a threat “seriously enough that after discussion with organisers it was decided to cancel the event”.
The concert’s organiser, Rotown, tweeted that the concert venue, a former grain silo called Maassilo, was being evacuated before it started because of the unspecified threat.
Dutch television showed officers in body armour outside Maassilo and what appeared to be members of the band leaving the venue in a white van with a police escort. By midnight, the area was calm and police had lifted the cordon, NOS reported.
Mexican Summer, the Allah-Las’s label, said: “The band is unharmed and are very grateful to the Rotterdam police and other responsible agencies for detecting the potential threat before anyone was hurt.”Mexican Summer, the Allah-Las’s label, said: “The band is unharmed and are very grateful to the Rotterdam police and other responsible agencies for detecting the potential threat before anyone was hurt.”
In an interview with the Guardian last year, band members said they had chosen the word Allah, Arabic for God, because they were seeking a “holy sounding” name and had not realised it might cause offence.In an interview with the Guardian last year, band members said they had chosen the word Allah, Arabic for God, because they were seeking a “holy sounding” name and had not realised it might cause offence.
“We get emails from Muslims, here in the US and around the world, saying they’re offended, but that absolutely wasn’t our intention,” said the lead singer, Miles Michaud. “We email back and explain why we chose the name and mainly they understand.”“We get emails from Muslims, here in the US and around the world, saying they’re offended, but that absolutely wasn’t our intention,” said the lead singer, Miles Michaud. “We email back and explain why we chose the name and mainly they understand.”