Terror suspects held in Greece as European crackdown widens
Police arrest man thought to be Abdelhamid Abaaoud - suspected head of jihadi cell in Belgium - but investigation reveals 'he had nothing to do with the Belgian case,' as attempt to crackdown on sleeper cells continues.
Widening a European counterterrorism dragnet, Greek authorities on Saturday detained four suspected jihadis including a man believed to be the ringleader of a Belgian militant cell.
A Greek police official said the four were arrested separately in Athens and included a man who matched the description of Abdelhamid Abaaoud - who Belgian authorities suspect was behind a jihadi cell that was dismantled in Belgium on Thursday - however investigations later revealed he had no links to the Belgian case.
Related stories:
- Jewish community braces for backlash amid terror arrests
- FM Lieberman: I wonder if EU will condemn France, Belgium for excessive use of force
- Security for UK Jews to be tightened says Cameron
Greek officials initially thought Abaaoud was in Turkey, but the detained man's name, as well as the cellphone found on him matches descriptions that Greek police received from Belgium, the Greek official said. Authorities said that even though they had broken up the alleged terror cell they were still looking for some suspects abroad and briefly hoped Greece could have clinched the breakthrough by detaining one remaining key suspect.
A Greek police official earlier Saturday said the men were detained separately in Athens, some 2,500 kilometers (1,500 miles) from Brussels, and included an individual who at first sight matched the description of a key terror suspect in Belgium.
After careful vetting in Brussels of ID information, federal magistrate Eric Van der Sypt said there was no positive match with any individual they sought and said "they had nothing to do with the Belgian case." With some suspects still at large, it was an uneasy calm in Belgium, and paratroopers on the street did not necessarily help.
"You know, when people see the soldiers on streets they will get scared. That could make more problems than solutions," said student Greg Verhoeven in Antwerp.
The announcement came amid a groundswell of popular antagonism across Europe against radical Islam, stepped-up police efforts to prevent terrorism, and protests against caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad across the Muslim world that have underscored vast cultural differences.
Belgium has raised its terror warning to 3, the second-highest, following anti-terror raids there on Thursday which left two suspects dead and a third wounded amid fears they had been planning imminent attacks on police and their offices.
The country deployed 150 paratroopers Saturday to guard possible terrorism targets, including some buildings in Antwerp's Jewish quarter. It was the first time in 30 years that authorities used troops to reinforce police, and they said the number of troops could double until a review of situation next week.
Meanwhile in France, authorities sought to head off possible civil unrest and glorification of terrorism after the country's worst attacks in decades - assenting to quietly bury the two brothers involved in the attack against the Charlie Hebdo newspaper and banning an anti-Islamist demonstration in Paris.
After an initial refusal to provide a burial place for Kouachi, the mayor of Reims, Arnaud Robinet, said he was forced to backtrack. Robinet said the government had insisted he allow the elder brother to be buried in Reims because according to French law residents of a town have the right to be buried there.
"He was buried last night, in the most discrete, anonymous way possible," Robinet said.
Kouachi and his brother Cherif were killed by French counter-terrorism police Jan. 9 after they killed 12 people at the offices of Charlie Hebdo. Cherif Kouachi is to be buried in Gennevilliers, a suburb of Paris where he lived.
Authorities said a third gunman, Amedy Coulibaly, killed five people including four hostages at a kosher market in Paris before he was killed by police. There has been no word of plans for his burial.
French authorities also banned an anti-Islamist demonstration in Paris, arguing it might incite civil unrest.
"We are one country, one people, one France - without distinction by religion, belief or sensibility," President Francois Hollande said Saturday in south-central France. "An ardent France against those who want to instill among us who-knows-what war of religion."
