As European leaders convened here for a conference, Belgian police detained 14 Islamic activists Thursday on suspicion one of them might have been planning an al-Qaeda-style terrorist attack, judicial authorities announced. The detentions, after a series of overnight raids on 16 locations in Brussels and the eastern city of Liege, had no known effect on plans for the European Union summit, which was scheduled to debate an economic stimulus plan and an ambitious program to protect the environment and reduce global warming in the 27 member countries.
Johan Delmulle, a federal prosecutor, told reporters in Brussels that information in the hands of police indicated one of the 14 "was possibly planning a suicide attack." But he did not specify whether the target was among the presidents and prime ministers who were gathering Thursday afternoon for the two-day summit conference.
Belgian authorities did not reveal the nationalities of those detained but said three of them had been to Afghanistan and Pakistan, along whose common border the al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding.
Belgium in recent years has become home to a large community of North African and other Muslim immigrants. Most have taken their place in the economy, in activities ranging from business to taxi driving, but some have been accused of ties to or sympathies for al-Qaeda in the past.
Belgian authorities last year warned that Islamic extremists were planning to attack Christmas observances in Brussels, provoking widespread concern dampening the festivities. This time, however, they said only that there were indications some kind of an attack was planned, probably in Belgium. "It is more than likely that an attack in Brussels has been prevented," said a government statement.
An unnamed government source told the Reuters news agency that the detentions were preventive, and no formal arrests were announced.
The summit conference, a regular meeting of European leaders, faced what officials predicted would be long and difficult negotiations aside from whatever terrorism threat may have been under way.
The European Commission, the union's Brussels-based executive, has recommended a $250 billion stimulus program for the 27 member governments to offset an abrupt economic slowdown brought on by this fall's financial crisis. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, who holds the union's rotating presidency, has enthusiastically endorsed the suggestion, as has Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain.
But Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that too much stimulus spending, and the debt it implies for the years ahead, would be a dangerous deviation from rules that limit public debts in member countries to 3 percent of gross domestic product. Her finance minister, Peer Steinbrueck, on the eve of the summit accused some European leaders of "tossing around billions" to fix fallout from the financial crisis, suggesting they were acting irresponsibly to protect themselves from criticism as the crisis bites into economic activity.
Similarly, some European countries have voiced concern about the costs inherent in reaching the European Union's goal of reducing greenhouse gases by 20 percent before 2020. A main tool, according to a preliminary accord reached in difficult negotiations over recent months, would be a guarantee that renewable sources, such as windmills and solar power, produce 20 percent of the continent's energy by the 2020 target year. Poland in particular, which gets 85 percent of its energy from coal, has demanded increased economic support in exchange for agreeing to the plan.