2023-10-18 05:09:00
The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the shooting on Tuesday evening, saying the attack targeted Sweden because of its membership in a global coalition fighting the jihadists.
The file info:
1:40 p.m.: false alarm in Ghent where a suspicious package was discovered
Woodrow Wilson Square and Graaf van Vlaanderen Square in central Ghent are accessible again on Wednesday. A suspicious package was discovered near the scene, but it was a false alarm. The item in question was in fact forgotten luggage, local police said.
The package was discovered at a bus stop on Woodrow Wilson Square, not far from Graaf van Vlaanderen Square. The local police took no risks and set up a security perimeter.
The army’s mine clearance service (Sedee) was also called in and used a robot to defuse the package. It was a piece of luggage with an umbrella in the side pocket, probably forgotten by mistake.
The places are accessible again, but public transport could still experience slight disruptions.
12:30 p.m.: Ostend airport evacuated after bomb threat
Ostend Airport was evacuated on Wednesday after a bomb threat, the airport said. No passengers were present but around fifty members of staff who had to leave the building. The airport is being combed as a precaution.
Flights scheduled for Ostend have been diverted to Brussels Airport, specifies Skeyes, the airspace manager, in a press release.
According to the city of Ostend, it was a threatening email addressed to several airports. Several French airports were also evacuated.
12:00 p.m.: Two places in the center of Ghent evacuated after the discovery of a suspicious package
Woodrow Wilson Square and Graaf van Vlaanderen Square in central Ghent were evacuated on Wednesday after the discovery of a suspicious package, local police said.
The package was discovered at a bus stop on Woodrow Wilson Square, not far from Graaf van Vlaanderen Square. The local police took no risks and set up a security perimeter.
The army mine clearance service (Sedee) was called in to assist.
11:30 a.m.: A tribute ceremony in Brussels
Prime Minister Alexander de Croo and his Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson met on Wednesday morning at Square Sainctelette in Brussels, where two people of Swedish origin were shot dead Monday evening by a man who claimed closeness to the Islamic State. A good number of federal ministers were also present.
The ceremony began around 10:15 a.m. with a solemn moment punctuated only by the notes of a cello. The two heads of state then observed a moment of silence before laying wreaths of flowers in front of the building in the hall of which the attack took place. Alexander de Croo left a Swedish football jersey with the flowers, while Ulf Kristersson attached a scarf in the colors of his country.
Other members of the federal government then took turns to lay other wreaths, including the Ministers of the Interior and Foreign Affairs, Annelies Verlinden and Hadja Lahbib. The mayor of Brussels, Philippe Close also decorated the building with a floral wreath, as did Rudy Vervoort and Elio Di Rupo. No representative of the Flemish government was present.
A tribute ceremony in BrusselsA tribute ceremony in Brussels © 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reservedA tribute ceremony in Brussels © 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
9:30 a.m.: Swedish Foreign Ministry warns Swedes abroad
The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a message published on its website, invites Swedes abroad to show “increased vigilance” and to register online with svensklistan, the Swedish equivalent of Travelers Online .
Following the attack in Brussels which claimed the lives of two Swedes on Monday evening, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson stressed at a press conference on Tuesday that Swedes do not have to hide their identities. “This is our way of life. We must not hide, but strengthen security,” he said.
The Foreign Ministry’s message emphasizes that Swedes must be “very careful and vigilant” and follow the advice of local authorities.
08:00: The media return to the attack in their editorials
“Too many whys and not enough credible answers”, “too many apparent flaws”, “why couldn’t we have predicted?”: the questions dominate the editorials of French-speaking dailies on Wednesday, the day after the death of Abdesalem L., the author of the terrorist attack which cost the lives of two Swedes on Monday evening in Brussels.
The responsibility of the authorities is clearly questioned in the press. The editor-in-chief of La Libre, Dorian de Meeûs, for his part, calls for greater firmness against “fundamentalism”: “The story, constantly renewed, of the “lone wolf” puts us to sleep? but doesn’t he hide a pack?”
“Beyond the candles, the ‘emotion of solidarity’, the flowers, the Belgians are waiting for action,” says Alexis Carantonis in La DH.
But as L’Écho mentions, these speeches should not lead to “amalgamations”. “Vigilance must be required (…) to try not to fall into the dark side of Man,” concludes Albert Jallet in L’Avenir.
Belgium “has plunged back into the throes of the terrorist threat”, laments Alain Narinx in L’Écho, before asking himself a question which dominates all the editorials: “Should Abdesalem L. have been better monitored?” Albert Jallet, in L’Avenir, points to an “underlying obsession: who is responsible?”
These questions are also asked by Demetrio Scagliola in Sudinfo. Describing “this unpleasant impression that not everything has been done to avoid the tragedy”, he denounces “a sort of big bazaar of the State in which we must restore resources and order”.
According to Le Soir editorialist Béatrice Delvaux, “the line of defense of the government, the intelligence services and the police is fragile”. If Vivaldi was “poor in anticipation”, it was “assured in managing the crisis”. But for the editorialist, “the ‘luck’ of the politicians at the helm is that this tragedy (…) does not occur the day before the vote.”
07:00: The latest information on the attacker, Abdesalem L.
On Tuesday evening, SVT Nyheter, a news program on the Swedish public broadcaster, reported that Abdesalem L. had been convicted in Sweden in 2012 on drug charges.
Abdesalem L. and two other people were arrested in Malmö in September 2012 for alleged drug trafficking. The man was then sentenced later that year to two years and two months in prison for possessing 100 grams of cocaine and had to leave the country. A sum of 38,000 Swedish crowns, or more than 3,300 euros, was also seized.
The TV program also indicates that it was able to speak with a person who knew Abdesalem L. when he resided in Sweden. The witness described the man as deeply religious, but certainly not radicalized.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson also indicated that the person concerned had lived in the country. It then emerged that the man had been incarcerated between 2012 and 2014 for acts, the nature of which, however, had not been specified.
Finally, in November 2019, he requested asylum in Belgium, but his request was rejected and he then disappeared from the radar.
06:00: Dermagne calls for the law on victim compensation to be voted on as quickly as possible
Federal Minister of the Economy Pierre-Yves Dermagne calls for the bill on compensation for victims of terrorism to be passed as quickly as possible. The objective is to allow “that it applies retroactively to the identified victims of the attack perpetrated Monday evening in Brussels so that they can benefit from the new compensation system”, he declared on Wednesday in the columns of L’Avenir.
The bill on compensation for victims of terrorism was referred to the Council of State last July at the request of the opposition. The latter tabled a series of amendments relating in particular to an extension of the limitation period for compensation claims. The opinion on these amendments has not yet been delivered.
“But recent news shows us that it is becoming urgent to vote on this text. Indeed, it is expected that all victims, whether or not they are covered by an insurance contract, will be compensated. In addition, this project provides for fairer compensation for victims than what is currently planned,” argues the Deputy Prime Minister PS.
On February 1, as the committee began examining the bill, there was no shortage of criticism. The majority then developed a series of amendments. These put an end to the difference between victims residing in Belgium and others. The time limit within which a request for compensation must be submitted has also been increased to 10 years, instead of 5 years in the initial version. Reference is also made to the creation of a one-stop shop which should guide victims.
But the central demand put forward by the victims to create a guarantee fund, as recommended by the commission of inquiry into the 2016 attacks, was not met.
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