Belgium detains suspect over ties to Brussels attacker

BRUSSELS: Belgian authorities said they detained a suspect Wednesday over alleged ties to an Islamist attacker who shot dead two Swedish football fans in Brussels last week.

The attack has caused political shockwaves in Belgium after it emerged that a litany of official oversights had seen inadequate attention paid to the gunman.

“In the framework of the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office file on the terrorist attack of 16 October 2023, a person was deprived of his liberty this morning,” prosecutors said, without identifying the suspect.

“The person in question will be questioned by investigators during the day in connection with his possible involvement with the weapon” used by the attacker.

The gunman, Abdesalem Lassoued, 45, was fatally shot by police after killing the two Swedes and seriously injuring a third in an assault he said in a video was inspired by the Islamic State group.

French anti-terror prosecutors told AFP on Tuesday that a Paris judge has also charged two men suspected of links to the Tunisian national.

Belgium’s justice minister resigned on Friday after it emerged an extradition request from Tunis — where Lassoued had escaped from jail in 2011 — had not been followed up.