Suspected Brussels bomber lived stone’s throw away from EU headquarters

Identified by the federal prosecutor as Faycal C, a list of tenants by the door to the block of flats where he resided revealed the name “Faycal Cheffou.” Although he has been charged with terrorist activities, it has not been confirmed whether Faycal C was the man in the white coat who was captured on video on Tuesday walking with the two airport suicide bombers, Ibrahim El Bakraoui and Najim Laachraoui, at Brussels’ Zaventem Airport. 

Police showed up Thursday to search Cheffou’s apartment, but they did not find any weapons or explosives. Local residents said they were in disbelief at what had happened. 

“We’d never have imagined anything like this,” a local baker told AFP, adding: “It’s always been calm around here.” The neighborhood is home to a number of buildings associated with the European Union Commission. 

Faycal Cheffou has claimed to be a freelance journalist who took a particular interest in the plight of refugees in Belgium. However, he was accused by Brussels Mayor Yves Mayeur of trying to recruit jihadists from among migrants. 

Cheffou would spend a lot of time at a refugee center in Maximilien Park and Mayeur, who believed Cheffou was “dangerous,” tried to have him legally banned from attending the facility. Cheffou was eventually banned from entering the park. 

According to AFP, a YouTube video from 2014 showed Cheffou as a reporter saying that migrants celebrating the Ramadan month of fasting were not offered food by the authorities after dark.

“After 10:00 p.m. these people find themselves with nothing to eat, completely forgotten by the rest of the world,” he says on the video. “This is a lack of respect for human rights.”

“I am concerned by the shouts and the noise I can hear as they are crying for help.” 

Faycal was arrested Thursday evening after the car he was traveling in had been tailed by police. 

On Tuesday, the Belgian capital was rocked by twin blasts at Zaventem Airport and an explosion at the Maalbeek Metro station, just meters away from key EU buildings, less than an hour later. 

The Belgian prosecutor’s office identified two suicide bombers as brothers Khalid and Ibrahim El Bakraoui. According to Belgium’s RTBF public broadcaster, both brothers, who were residents of the capital, were known to police for links to organized crime, but not for terrorism. 

The third suspect in the Brussels airport attack was reported by Belgian media to be Najim Laachraoui. Born on May 18, 1991, he is a native of Schaerbeek, a municipality located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. 

On Monday, prosecutors said they had charged three more people with taking part in a terrorist group, while a fourth person was released after having been detained for questioning. The federal prosecutors identified the three charged as Yassine A., Mohamed B. and Aboubaker O., saying they could not give further information at this stage, Reuters reports.

The blasts killed 35 people, including the three suspected suicide bombers. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Source Article from https://www.rt.com/news/337410-belgium-terror-eu-faycal/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

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