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Brussels Mosque Evacuated over Suspicious 'White Powder' Later Determined to be Flour
"A parcel was found at the entrance to the mosque and found to contain white powder. We are taking all preventative measures in case it is anthrax but it is a precautionary measure," said fire services spokeswomen Anne Wibin, who was at the scene. The mosque, the city's biggest, is located just a few blocks from the major EU institutions and many embassies and was cordoned off by police and firemen, some of them in white hazard materials suits. The alert came with Brussels on maximum security levels in the wake of the Gay Paree attacks on November 13, with two Belgium-linked suspects still on the run. Wibin said eleven people, including two police offers, were decontaminated as a precautionary measure. "A package was found with several envelopes one of which contained a powder, evidently suspect in the circumstances," she said. "The powder has been partially tested and it has been found to be not radioactive," she said, adding that no possibility was being ruled out. "People in direct contact were isolated and decontaminated and also those who were in indirect contact." "There is absolutely no danger to anyone," she added. Earlier this week several mosques in the Molenbeek neighborhood, seen as a hotbed of jihadist activity inspired by IS, received threatening letters from a group calling itself "Christian state". The Great Mosque, given as gift to Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... by Belgium, sits on a corner of Cinquantenaire Park where many of the thousands of EU staff take a lunchtime break and families bring their children to play. It is no more than 200 meters (yards) from the top EU institutions -- the European Council and the European Commission -- plus other offices and many embassies. Troops and armed police have been out in force in Brussels since Saturday, with the authorities due to review the top level four security alert on Monday.
Firecrews and decontamination teams attended a major mosque in Brussels close to the European Union headquarters on Thursday to investigate a suspect powder that police later said turned out to be flour. Reuters journalists saw about a dozen emergency vehicles, including police, outside the Islamic and Cultural Centre of Belgium, a large Saudi-established institution including a mosque situated 200 metres (yards) from the European Commission. A spokeswoman for the fire service said it had taken a call from the mosque from a person saying they believed that they had found anthrax powder, prompting the deployment of specialist crews. A police spokesman later said the substance was flour. Posted by: trailing wife 2015-11-27 |
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