Belgian Ministers Offer to Quit Over Security Lapses

Prosecutors have announced that there is a direct connection between the Brussels bombings and Paris attacks.

Belgium’s Interior Minister Jan Jambon, left, and Justice Minister Koen Geens, center, arrive for and extraordinary meeting of EU interior and justice ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels, Belgium, Thursday, 24 March 2016. (Photo: AP)

Belgium’s interior and justice ministers offered to resign on Thursday over a failure to track an Islamic State (ISIS) militant expelled by Turkey as a suspected fighter and who blew himself up at Brussels airport this week.

Brahim El Bakraoui was one of three identified suspected suicide bombers who hit the airport and a metro train, killing at least 31 people and wounding some 270 on Tuesday in the worst attack in Belgian history.

Also Read: Belgian Police Arrest Six in Bombing Probe, French Foil Paris Plot

At least one other man seen with them on airport security cameras is on the run and a fifth suspected bomber filmed in the metro attack may be dead or alive.

Interior Minister Jan Jambon and Justice Minister Koen Geens tendered their resignations to Prime Minister Charles Michel, who asked them to stay on.

In time of war, you cannot leave the field. 

Jan Jambon, Interior Minister, Belgium

The security lapses in a country that is home to the European Union and NATO have drawn international criticism of an apparent reluctance to tackle Islamist radicals effectively.

It also raised questions about information sharing between Western intelligence services.

Belgium’s Interior Minister Jan Jambon. (Photo: AP)

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Bakraoui, 29, had been expelled last July after being arrested near the Syrian border and two officials said he had been deported a second time. Belgian and Dutch authorities had been notified of Turkish suspicions that he was a foreign fighter trying to reach Syria.

At the time, Belgian authorities replied that Bakraoui, who had skipped parole after serving less than half of a 9-year sentence for armed robbery, was a criminal but not a militant.

You can ask how it came about that someone was let out so early and that we missed the chance to seize him when he was in Turkey. I understand the questions. In the circumstances, it was right to take political responsibility and I offered my resignation to the prime minister.

Jan Jambon

Geens said systems should be reviewed but said that other countries had been attacked and cited in particular 11 September 2001 in the United States, noting that “there were 3,000 dead”.

We must be very critical of ourselves. On the other hand, we must note that such events have occurred in the countries with the highest security, with the best intelligence services in the world.

Koen Geens, Justice Minister, Belgium

Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam. (Photo: AP)

Investigators are convinced the same jihadist network was involved in the November Paris attacks on cafes, a sports stadium and a concert hall that killed 130 people.

Public broadcaster VRT said investigators believed Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, arrested last Friday, probably planned a similar shooting and suicide bomb attack in Brussels.

The terrorists were planning the same scenario as in Paris, only it partially failed. 

VRT

One man was killed in a shootout with police on 15 March that led to the discovery of assault weapons and explosives and the arrest of Abdeslam, 26, and another suspect on 18 March.

Also Read: Surviving Paris Attack Suspect Wants to Return, “Explain Himself”

A person being evacuated after a shooting outside the Bataclan theatre in Paris. (Photo: AP)

Belgium lowered its security alert level one notch down from four, the highest level, to three; but officials did not say what that would mean in terms of security measures that have seen a heavy police and military presence in Brussels.

Islamic State posted a video on social media calling the Brussels blasts a victory and featuring the training of Belgian militants suspected in the Paris attacks.