Belgium charges six with connections to a terrorist group
(Read article summary)A yearlong investigation led to the arrests and charges, which come amid an EU summit in Brussels. One suspect is believed to have been preparing for a suicide attack.
Belgian authorities on Friday charged six people suspected of links to Al Qaeda with membership in a terrorist group. On Thursday, 14 people suspected of Al Qaeda links were arrested by police. The sweep occurred on the eve of a European Union summit in Brussels. According to Belgian federal officials, at least some of the detained suspects had traveled to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border for training and were said to have been affiliated with "important people" in Al Qaeda. Eight suspects were released on Friday after a judge ruled that there was insufficient evidence to keep them in detention.
According to the Associated Press, the six charged included one who may have been plotting a suicide attack.
A judge decided there was insufficient evidence to hold eight other suspects picked up in Thursday's anti-terror sweep. The raids came hours before the start of a European Union summit of 27 government leaders in the Belgian capital.
Spokeswoman Lieve Pellens of the federal prosecutor's office said the six charged early Friday constituted the hard core of a terrorist group and included one militant who allegedly was plotting a suicide attack.
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