FRANCE-SHOOTING/BELGIUM-SECURITY Belgium remains on high alert after Islamist plot foiled
Record ID:
324391
FRANCE-SHOOTING/BELGIUM-SECURITY Belgium remains on high alert after Islamist plot foiled
- Title: FRANCE-SHOOTING/BELGIUM-SECURITY Belgium remains on high alert after Islamist plot foiled
- Date: 19th January 2015
- Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (JANUARY 19, 2015) (REUTERS) ARMY TRUCK OUTSIDE EUROPEAN COMMISSION AND EUROPEAN COUNCIL VARIOUS OF ARMED SOLDIERS OUTSIDE COUNCIL FEET OF SOLDIER / PEOPLE WALKING PAST COUNCIL VARIOUS OF ARMED SOLDIERS OUTSIDE COMMISSION ARMY TRUCK OUTSIDE JEWISH SCHOOL VARIOUS OF ARMED SOLDIER OUTSIDE JEWISH SCHOOL VARIOUS OF SIGN FOR MOLENBEEK COMMUNITY WOMEN AND CHILDREN WALKING IN STREET POLICE CAR DRIVING BY (SOUNDBITE) (French) CARER IN MOLENBEEK, MARYATOU, SAYING: "Right now, it's everywhere in the world, there is nowhere to feel safe, because when you see the news you see it's not good everywhere. We are afraid, but life goes on. Happily the police are there, we hope that it will be all right." (SOUNDBITE) (French) MOLENBEEK RESIDENT ORIGINALLY FROM MOROCCO, DAOUDI DAHBIA, SAYING: "No, I'm not afraid. Why should I be afraid? No, I'm not afraid. I am free in Belgium, I am fine here. Whether the people are Belgian, Arab, Pakistani, everybody gets along well." (SOUNDBITE) (French) MOLENBEEK RESIDENT, HAFID SAID, SAYING: "It's not the fault of those people who have left (for Syria.) It's the people who let them leave. That's to say the government. Rather than stopping them from the start, they let them go, let them go. Afterwards, when the events happened: "Ah, yes, there is a problem"." MOLENBEEK NEIGHBOURHOOD VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING IN STREET
- Embargoed: 3rd February 2015 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Belgium
- Country: Belgium
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA1N038MHXAUYVVENIFKSHN3PB1
- Story Text: Belgium remained on high alert on Monday (January 19) following last week's deadly raids on an Islamist cell, with heightened security surrounding high-risk targets.
The country has deployed hundreds of troops to guard possible terrorism targets, including Jewish sites and diplomatic missions, after a raid in the east Belgian town of Verviers on Thursday (January 15) in which police shot dead two gunmen. Authorities said the Islamist cell had been preparing an attack on police.
Up to 300 military personnel have been stationed at locations such as the U.S. and Israeli embassies in Brussels and NATO and EU institutions.
Troops will reinforce police at least until Thursday, when authorities will review the national threat level, set at 3 on a scale of 4 this week.
Alongside the events in Verviers, police raids also took place last week in the Brussels neighbourhood of Molenbeek, across the city's industrial-era canal.
Resident Maryatou, who works as a carer in the area, told Reuters it was concerning.
"Right now, it's everywhere in the world, there is nowhere to feel safe, because when you see the news you see it's not good everywhere. We are afraid, but life goes on. Happily the police are there, we hope that it will be all right," she said.
But others struck a defiant tone.
"No, I'm not afraid. Why should I be afraid? No, I'm not afraid. I am free in Belgium, I am fine here. Whether the people are Belgian, Arab, Pakistani, everybody gets along well," said Moroccan-born Molenbeek resident Daoudi Dahbia.
Last week's police raids drew attention to the large number of Belgians drawn to fighting in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East, then returning home radicalised.
Per capita, Belgium is the European country providing the highest number of citizens to fight with Syrian rebels in recent years, data shows. Nearly 300 citizens travelled to fight between late 2011 and December 2013, according to the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation.
Molenbeek resident Hafid Said blamed the Belgian government for inaction.
"It's not the fault of those people who have left (for Syria.) It's the people who let them leave. That's to say the government. Rather than stopping them from the start, they let them go, let them go. Afterwards, when the events happened: "Ah, yes, there is a problem"," he said.
The government estimates 170 Belgians are thought to be in Syria and another 40 are thought to have been killed, according to Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders, who said returned fighters are subject to investigation and monitoring. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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