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                  Belgium Charges 3 With Terrorist Involvement

   by Heather Murdock, William Gallo

   Brussels federal prosecutors said Monday they have charged three people
   with involvement in a terrorist group. The arrests follow last week's
   bombings in the Belgian capital that killed at least 35 people,
   including four U.S. citizens.

   A statement from the office said a fourth person had been detained, but
   was released on Sunday.

   The men charged were identified as Yassine A., Mohamed B. and Aboubaker
   O. No other details were released, and the prosecutors did not directly
   say whether the suspects were involved in last week's deadly attack.

   On Sunday, as Belgian riot police marched into formation accompanied by
   water cannon trucks, the crowd on the steps of the stock exchange in
   Brussels cheered. Right-wing activists that some locals call "fascists"
   had arrived at the quiet memorial to those killed in the terror
   attacks, shouting anti-immigration slogans and performing Nazi salutes.

   "Always when there is something positive, they come to make it
   horrible," said Monique Starck, a Belgian homemaker who was hurried off
   just as the gathering on the square started to look like a riot.

   ''Condolences
   U.S. President Barack Obama expressed his condolences Sunday over the
   telephone to the parents of Justin and Stephanie Shults, a young
   American couple who died in the attacks. Later Sunday, the U.S. State
   Department confirmed the deaths, but not the identifications, of two
   more Americans killed in the attacks.

   Ever since the bombings that wounded some 300 people, mourners have
   been in the Brussels square to express their solidarity with the
   victims.

   After the right-wingers stormed the square, a few bottles and punches
   were thrown, loud flares were set off and the police, the army and
   other security forces surrounded the mayhem. For the most part, the
   antagonism was confined to intense verbal clashes between the group -
   calling itself Casuals Against Terrorism - and people already gathered
   in the square to mourn.

   Water cannons finally dispersed the protesters after they were pushed
   back toward the train station, overturning trash bins and breaking
   bottles along the way.

   ''March canceled
   A "March Against Fear" had been scheduled to take place Sunday but was
   canceled because authorities said the gathering would draw resources
   away from the investigation into Tuesday's attacks. But hundreds of
   people still gathered in a square in the city center. Even before the
   activists arrived, some locals noticed army and police presence was
   heavy in the area compared to recent days.

   "When I see so much security, I get scared," said Mustafa Mohammad, an
   Iraqi refugee, wondering why the police seemed more concerned than the
   day before.

   The Belgian capital remains on edge, as several of those involved in
   the plot remain on the loose. But investigators appear to have made
   several advances in the case in recent days.

   New raids
   On Sunday, Brussels police carried out 13 new raids in and around the
   capital, detaining nine people for questioning in connection with
   terrorism before releasing several of them.

   The statement gave no information about the searches and did not
   specifically mention the Brussels attacks.

   In a sign of the terror network's far-reaching nature, Italian police
   on Sunday announced the arrest of an Algerian man suspected of making
   false IDs used by suspects in the Brussels attacks as well as the Paris
   terror attacks in November.

   State police said Djamal Eddine Ouali was arrested Saturday near the
   town of Salerno. Officials have said he could soon be extradited to
   Belgium.

   On Saturday, Belgian prosecutors identified and issued an arrest
   warrant for a new suspect in the Brussels attacks. In a statement, the
   federal prosecutor's office said it issued a warrant for a man only
   identified as Faycal C. for "involvement in a terrorist group,
   terrorist killings and attempted terrorist killings."

   The statement did not confirm whether Faycal C. is the third Brussels
   airport suicide bomber seen in airport security camera video alongside
   two men who blew themselves up there. Belgian media reported that a man
   named Faycal Cheffou was suspected of fleeing the Brussels airport.

   Previous arrests
   On Friday, Belgian prosecutors said three people were detained in a
   Brussels counterterrorism operation prompted by the arrest Thursday of
   a Frenchman in the Paris area suspected of plotting a new attack. The
   Belgian prosecutor's office confirmed in a statement that Friday's
   arrests were conducted in three districts of the capital: Schaerbeek,
   Forest and Saint-Gilles. Two of the three suspects were wounded in the
   leg.

   One of those men has been identified as Abderamane A., who was charged
   Sunday with participation in a terror group, according to prosecutors.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/belgium-charges-3-with-terrorist-involvement/3257625.html