Belgium on alert: Man with gas canisters held

BRUSSELS: Belgian police and soldiers on Thursday sealed off part of central Brussels after finding gas canisters in a car driven by a man known to have been radicalised, officials said. Prosecutors said the man was detained and is being questioned. Reports said he had previously gone to Syria but officials did not confirm that. “The car was stopped because the driver jumped several red lights. The police then noticed several gas canisters in the boot and rather than take any risks, they called for help from the army bomb squad,” a police spokeswoman said. Local mayor Charles Picque told AFP the driver was ‘someone potentially dangerous’ who was listed as radicalised.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 3^rd, 2017.