Europe

Belgium releases terror murder suspect

Faycal Cheffou, arrested and charged in Belgium with terrorist offences after the Brussels attacks, is released for lack of evidence. Photo grabbed from YouTube

A man known as Faycal C, the only person arrested and charged with involvement in the Brussels attacks, has been released for lack of evidence.

Belgian media have given the man's full name as Faycal Cheffou.

Police have released CCTV footage in their efforts to identify a third suspect in last Tuesday's bomb attacks on a Brussels airport.

Attacks on the airport and the city's metro system killed 35 people and injured more than 300.

The attacks were claimed by the so-called Islamic State militant group.


Belgium terror arrests

A man referred to officially as Facyal C was released on 28 March after being arrested on 24 March in Brussels and charged with "participation in the activities of a terrorist group, terrorist murders and attempted terrorist murders".

Others detained on suspicion of terrorist activity include

  • Salah Abdeslam - arrested on 18 March in the Molenbeek district of Brussels. Key suspect in the Paris attacks last November. Charged with "terrorist murder"
  • 'Amine Choukri' - arrested on 18 March with Abdeslam, real name not yet known. Also used the alias Monir Ahmed Alaaj. Documented by German police near Ulm in a car with Abdeslam last October. Charged with "terrorist murder" over the Paris attacks
  • Rabah N - arrested on 25 March and charged with participating in terrorist activities in relation to a foiled plot to attack Paris
  • Abderamane A - shot in the leg and arrested on 25 March at a tram stop in the Schaerbeek area of Brussels. Charged in relation to the foiled plot to attack Paris. Jailed for seven years in France in 2005 and banned from entering France for life aiding in the assassination of Afghan commander Ahmed Shah Massoud in 2001.
  • Aboubakar A - arrested on 24 March in a car in Brussels, charged with participating in terrorist activities
  • Yassine A, Mohamed B and Aboubaker O - arrested during raids on 27 March and charged with belonging to a terrorist group

Of the 35 victims, seven have still to be identified, the country's crisis centre said on Monday (in French).

At least 12 of the victims are foreign nationals from the US, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, France, the UK, Italy and China, it said earlier.

The death toll does not include three attackers, two of whom blew themselves up at the airport and one in the metro.

'Not substantiated'

In a statement, the Belgian federal prosecutor's office said: "The indications that led to the arrest of Faycal C were not substantiated by the ongoing inquiry.

"As a result, the subject has been released by the examining magistrate."

He had been charged only two days before with "taking part in a terrorist group, terrorist murder and attempted terrorist murder".

Belgian public TV and Le Soir daily identified the freed man as Cheffou, a freelance journalist.

In the CCTV footage released by police, the suspected third attacker at Zaventem Airport - whose bomb did not explode and who fled - can be seen wearing light-coloured clothing and a hat.

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Belgium releases terror murder suspect

Faycal Cheffou, arrested and charged in Belgium with terrorist offences after the Brussels attacks, is released for lack of evidence. Photo grabbed from YouTube

A man known as Faycal C, the only person arrested and charged with involvement in the Brussels attacks, has been released for lack of evidence.

Belgian media have given the man's full name as Faycal Cheffou.

Police have released CCTV footage in their efforts to identify a third suspect in last Tuesday's bomb attacks on a Brussels airport.

Attacks on the airport and the city's metro system killed 35 people and injured more than 300.

The attacks were claimed by the so-called Islamic State militant group.


Belgium terror arrests

A man referred to officially as Facyal C was released on 28 March after being arrested on 24 March in Brussels and charged with "participation in the activities of a terrorist group, terrorist murders and attempted terrorist murders".

Others detained on suspicion of terrorist activity include

  • Salah Abdeslam - arrested on 18 March in the Molenbeek district of Brussels. Key suspect in the Paris attacks last November. Charged with "terrorist murder"
  • 'Amine Choukri' - arrested on 18 March with Abdeslam, real name not yet known. Also used the alias Monir Ahmed Alaaj. Documented by German police near Ulm in a car with Abdeslam last October. Charged with "terrorist murder" over the Paris attacks
  • Rabah N - arrested on 25 March and charged with participating in terrorist activities in relation to a foiled plot to attack Paris
  • Abderamane A - shot in the leg and arrested on 25 March at a tram stop in the Schaerbeek area of Brussels. Charged in relation to the foiled plot to attack Paris. Jailed for seven years in France in 2005 and banned from entering France for life aiding in the assassination of Afghan commander Ahmed Shah Massoud in 2001.
  • Aboubakar A - arrested on 24 March in a car in Brussels, charged with participating in terrorist activities
  • Yassine A, Mohamed B and Aboubaker O - arrested during raids on 27 March and charged with belonging to a terrorist group

Of the 35 victims, seven have still to be identified, the country's crisis centre said on Monday (in French).

At least 12 of the victims are foreign nationals from the US, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, France, the UK, Italy and China, it said earlier.

The death toll does not include three attackers, two of whom blew themselves up at the airport and one in the metro.

'Not substantiated'

In a statement, the Belgian federal prosecutor's office said: "The indications that led to the arrest of Faycal C were not substantiated by the ongoing inquiry.

"As a result, the subject has been released by the examining magistrate."

He had been charged only two days before with "taking part in a terrorist group, terrorist murder and attempted terrorist murder".

Belgian public TV and Le Soir daily identified the freed man as Cheffou, a freelance journalist.

In the CCTV footage released by police, the suspected third attacker at Zaventem Airport - whose bomb did not explode and who fled - can be seen wearing light-coloured clothing and a hat.

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