Brussels attacks: Belgian prosecutors charge two men with terrorist activities

Belgian prosecutors have charged two terrorist suspects in connection with the suicide-bomb attacks on Brussels airport and metro which killed 31 and injured 300.

One of the men, referred to by prosecutors as Fayçal C, was charged with participation in a terrorist group, terrorist killings and attempted terrorist killings.

Fayçal C was arrested by police on Thursday night in Brussels as he was standing outside the federal prosecutor’s office in the centre of the city. A search was then carried out at Fayçal C’s home. No arms or explosives were found.

Belgian authorities have not said whether Fayçal C might have been pictured on CCTV in connection to the Brussels attacks. There have been media reports that have linked the newly named suspect with the “man in white” pictured moments before the airport attack. This has not been independently verified.

A second man, Aboubakar A, arrested separately on Thursday night in a car in another part of Brussels, has also been charged with participating in terrorist activities.

Belgian police had also made arrests on Friday relating to an alleged foiled terror plot in France after explosives were found in Argenteuil on the edge of Paris. One man, Rabah N, has been charged with participating in terrorist activities in relation to the Paris investigation.

A man who was shot and arrested at a tram stop in Schaerbeek, Brussels, on Friday is being held for further 24 hours’ questioning. He was named by the prosecutor as Abderamane A.Meanwhile, security officials also confirmed on Saturday that a German woman was killed in the attacks.

Germany’s interior minister Thomas de Maiziere vowed that his country “will not rest until the murderers and those who aided them are held responsible”.

He said that “my thoughts are with the young woman’s relatives, as well as the relatives of the many who were injured or killed on March 22.” He added that “Belgian authorities can be sure of our support.”

The woman was identified as Jennifer Scintu Waetzmann, a coach for an Aachen youth handball club.

The German newspaper Bild quoted the woman’s uncle, Claudio Scinto, saying she and her husband were at Brussels airport’s American Airlines check-in counter en route to New York for a belated honeymoon, when a bomb exploded.

Her husband, Lars Waetzmann, has been reported among the 270 wounded in Brussels.