Skip to main content
Tags: Europe | terror | Greece | Belgium

Belgium: No Sign Greek Arrests Are Linked to Belgian Probe

Saturday, 17 January 2015 06:13 PM EST

Belgian authorities said Saturday that information sent to them from Athens so far has not indicated the people detained by police in Greece were involved in a Belgian jihadi cell.

A Greek police official earlier said four terrorism suspects had been arrested separately in Athens and included a man who matched the description of the suspect Belgian authorities believe was behind a jihadi cell that was dismantled in Belgium on Thursday.

But after initial vetting in Brussels, federal magistrate Eric van der Sypt said the information they received showed there was no link.

The Greek official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the ongoing probe, said the "investigation is ongoing. We are in touch with the Belgians."

The arrests came amid stepped-up police efforts across Europe to prevent terrorism, a groundswell of popular antagonism against radical Islam, and protests against caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad across the Muslim world that have underscored vast cultural differences.

Belgium has raised its terror warning to 3, the second-highest, following anti-terror raids there on Thursday which left two suspects dead and a third wounded amid fears they had been planning imminent attacks on police and their offices.

The country deployed 150 paratroopers Saturday to guard possible terrorism targets, including some buildings in Antwerp's Jewish quarter. It was the first time in 30 years that authorities used troops to reinforce police, and they said the number of troops could double until a review of the situation next week.

Meanwhile in France, authorities sought to head off possible civil unrest and glorification of terrorism after the country's worst attacks in decades — assenting to quietly bury the two brothers involved in the attack against the Charlie Hebdo newspaper and banning an anti-Islamist demonstration in Paris.

"We are one country, one people, one France — without distinction by religion, belief or sensibility," President Francois Hollande said in a speech Saturday in south-central France. "An ardent France against those who want to instill among us who-knows-what war of religion."

Authorities have said there is no apparent link between the foiled plots in Belgium and last week's terror attacks against the newspaper and a kosher grocery in Paris, in which brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi and their friend Amedy Coulibaly killed 17 people.

© Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


Newsfront
Belgian authorities said Saturday that information sent to them from Athens so far has not indicated the people detained by police in Greece were involved in a Belgian jihadi cell.A Greek police official earlier said four terrorism suspects had been arrested separately in...
Europe, terror, Greece, Belgium
377
2015-13-17
Saturday, 17 January 2015 06:13 PM
Newsmax Media, Inc.

Sign up for Newsmax’s Daily Newsletter

Receive breaking news and original analysis - sent right to your inbox.

(Optional for Local News)
Privacy: We never share your email address.
Join the Newsmax Community
Read and Post Comments
Please review Community Guidelines before posting a comment.
 
TOP

Interest-Based Advertising | Do not sell or share my personal information

Newsmax, Moneynews, Newsmax Health, and Independent. American. are registered trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc. Newsmax TV, and Newsmax World are trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc.

NEWSMAX.COM
America's News Page
© Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Download the Newsmax App
NEWSMAX.COM
America's News Page
© Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved