All the latest developments in Brussels

By Catherine Hardy with Reuters, AFP

Published on 24/03/2016 - 10:40

Comments

The inquiry, Abdeslam court appearance, the security situation and the warnings about Easter weekend travel.

The latest developments

Inquiry focuses on finding the ‘third man’ seen on airport CCTV footage with two suicide bombers.
Fifth bomber may have been on metro
Ankara criticises Belgium for failing to track Brahim El Bakraoui after he was deported from Turkey last year

The identified attackers

Investigators now think five individuals may have been involved in the attacks:

Brahim El Bakraoui – airport
Najim Laachraoui – airport
Khalid El Bakroui – Maalbeck metro
Hat, white jacket, glasses – airport?
Unidentified bomber – metro?

Prosecutors say the unidentified attacker fled the scene at the airport. A third suitcase bomb, the biggest of the three, was later found unexploded.

Brahim El Bakraoui

Centre figure in airport CCTV footage
29 years old
Convicted of armed robbery in Belgium
Deported from Turkey’s Syrian border in 2015
Elder brother of Khalid El Bakraoui

Khalid El Bakraoui

Younger brother of Brahim El Bakraoui
27 years old
Detonated bomb on metro train
Convicted of armed robbery in Belgium
Rented the apartment recently raided by police in the Forest area of Brussels.

Najim Laachraoui

On the left of airport CCTV footage
Suspected of manufacturing explosive belts for the Paris attacks.

Media around the world are broadcasting this CCTV picture of alleged suspects in the #Brussels airport bombings. pic.twitter.com/7C6ZSuTJ0c
— euronews (@euronews) March 22, 2016

Turkey’s prior warning

#Belgium failed to detect attacker's terror links: Erdogan https://t.co/vI0ayR4w3C pic.twitter.com/OJeXUJ45hI
— ANADOLU AGENCY (ENG) (@anadoluagency) March 23, 2016

The Turkish President has criticised Belgium for failing to track Brahim El Bakraoui.

Turkey deported the 29-year-old in 2015

“ Belgium ignored our warning that this person is a foreign fighter,” – Recep Tayyip Erdogan says El Bakraoui was detained near the Syrian border.

In response, the Belgian government says the 29-year-old was deported to the neighbouring Netherlands, not Belgium.

Officials also say they cannot detain militant suspects without clear evidence of a crime.

Salah Abdeslam

Lawyer: Salah Abdeslam “wishes to leave for France’” https://t.co/ftywANRVgN pic.twitter.com/caeaDfHM6w
— POLITICO Europe (@POLITICOEurope) March 24, 2016

Charged with terrorism offences in Belgium
Wanted for questioning in connection with Paris attacks last November
Appeared in court in Brussels on Thursday morning
Lawyer Sven Mary says his client has changed his mind and wants to be extradited to France as quickly as possible.
Mary says he is cooperating with investigators.

Security in Belgium

Budgets have been increased since the Paris attacks
2,500 federal police to be recruited
Aim is to fill 20% shortfall in full-strength force of 12,500
Highest per capita number of foreign fighters in Syria of any european nation
300 fighters in population of 11 million

Easter weekend travel affected

Brussels Airport will be closed until at least Saturday
Travellers diverted to Antwerp, Liege and Lille in France.
Brussels Airlines advises travellers to arrive at least 3 hours before flying to clear security.