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Unprecedented French – Belgian Cooperation to Destroy Abaaoud’s Legacy | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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The US Secretary of State attends an event to honour the victims of the attacks at Brussels airport yesterday (AFP)


The US Secretary of State attends an event to honour the victims of the attacks at Brussels airport yesterday (AFP)

The US Secretary of State attends an event to honour the victims of the attacks at Brussels airport yesterday (AFP)

Belgian authorities announced the arrest of eight people yesterday in relation to the Brussels bombings that took place last Tuesday, while French authorities revealed that an “advanced” terror plot targeting France has been foiled.

Belgian prosecutors yesterday confirmed that a man had been shot and arrested in a police operation in the Schaerbeek district of Brussels. He was linked to a plot to carry out an attack in France which was thwarted by the French authorities yesterday. This matter was interpreted by many observers in the capital of the European Union as evidence of an unprecedented collaboration between Brussels and Paris to end the legacy of Abdulhamid Abaaoud who was killed days after the Paris bombings in November last year and is believed to be the mastermind behind them. The coordination and cooperation also resulted in the arrest of Salah Abdeslam who was the most wanted man in Europe and is considered to be a key to the secrets of the Paris and Brussels bombings.

Meanwhile, French President Francois Hollande said yesterday that the authorities are in the process of sentencing the extremist network that was responsible for the Paris and Brussels attacks. However, there are still other cells that pose a threat.

The US Secretary of State John Kerry and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said in Brussels yesterday that two Americans were killed in the Brussels attacks. Although officials did not specify the number of victims who were US citizens, a US official explained to reporters that at least two of the dead were identified as US citizens.

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano said that the world must do more to avert the threat of “nuclear terrorism”, and stressed that we should not exclude the possibility of an attack of this kind and the devastating consequences that it would bring with it.