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| Europe |
| Complaints grow that Belgium bungled security before attacks |
| 2016-03-25 |
| [USA Today] Two days after the worst terror attack on Belgian soil, signs are growing that the Belgium government failed to address security lapses that might have contributed to Tuesday's bombings. The European Union told Belgian authorities to remedy gaps in their border security just weeks before suicide bombers attacked Brussels Airport and a metro station, killing 31 people and wounding 270, according to a report published Thursday. The revelation that a list of recommendations was sent to Brussels in February urging it to repair its "deficient" security checks came after Belgium apparently failed to monitor one of the suicide bombers despite warnings from Turkey. It also followed Belgian and French media reports that a second attacker, possibly at large, is suspected in Tuesday's metro bombing along with Khalid El Bakraoui. El Bakraoui’s brother Ibrahim, and Najim Laachraoui, were identified as two suicide bombers who targeted Brussels Airport the same day. Belgium: We sought metro bomber’s arrest last year for terror offenses [IsraelTimes] Belgian federal prosecutors said Thursday that an international arrest warrant for terrorism-related offenses was issued in December for the suicide bomber who blew himself up at a Brussels metro station two days ago. Persecutors also said in a statement that Khalid El Bakraoui had rented a flat in the southern city of Charleroi, “which served as a base for the terrorist group implicated in the Paris attacks.” The announcement from prosecutors came amid widespread criticism of Belgium’s approach to immigration and security, as well as reports that Brussels officials had specific information about the terror plot, and the attackers were known to police. Israel’s Channel 2 television reported Wednesday that Israeli officials had warned Belgian counterparts of the numerous security failings at Brussels airport weeks before the deadly bomb blasts ripped through the site. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #5 But because of the countryâs penal code, which prohibits raids between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. unless a crime is in progress or in case of fire When we lived there, I was told by the American Women's Club (an international organization with branches in most countries where there are American expats) not to let the police in after normal business hours because they were so corrupt that bad things would be done with impunity. You may not recall, SteveS, but there was a big child sex trafficking scandal in Belgium early in the new millennium -- it turned out the kidnap ring was being run out of the office of the Minister of the Interior. Note that it was not the ministry, but the Interior Minister's own office. Their top (cumulative) customer, as I recall, were the Dutch; the majority of the taken children had come to Belgium as refugees. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2016-03-25 18:25 |
| #4 Via Powerline from the Wall Street Journal: The Belgian police have also been hampered by bizarre rules. According to Belgian Justice Minister Koen Geens, just two days after the Paris attacks Abdeslam was “likely in a flat in Molenbeek.” But because of the country’s penal code, which prohibits raids between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. unless a crime is in progress or in case of fire, police were ordered to wait until dawn to pursue him. By then, Abdeslam was nowhere to be seen. Words fail. I'm just gonna go sit in the SinkTrap. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2016-03-25 16:07 |
| #3 #2 How soon we forget the FBI's monstruous lapses in the weeks leading up to 9/11. Posted by Glusogum Unomble Whilst whistle blowers within the Bureau were ostracized, belittled. and everyone kept their jobs. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2016-03-25 11:46 |
| #2 How soon we forget the FBI's monstruous lapses in the weeks leading up to 9/11. |
| Posted by: Glusogum Unomble5785 2016-03-25 10:18 |
| #1 We tried being nice to them and they still try to kill us - it must be the fault of the police. On the other hand, no one criticizes the US security system, except for the long lines, pat-downs of grannies, the occasional firearm slipping through airport security, and then - of course - Boston and San Bernardino. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2016-03-25 07:32 |