Belgium Charges 4 In ISIS Brussels Terror Attack

UPDATED: 1:12 p.m. EDT — Mohamed Abrini admitted to authorities Saturday he was the “man in the hat” who escaped the Brussels attacks last month as three accomplices suicide bombed the airport and a subway, L’Echo reported.

Original story:

Belgium Saturday charged four suspects thought to be involved in the March terrorist bombings in Brussels, the Associated Press reported. Among those rounded up were the last known fugitive of 2015’s Paris attacks and a Swedish national allegedly tied to the deadly event.

Those two prime suspects are Mohamed Abrini and Osama Krayem, said to be part of a European Islamic State group terror cell that killed 130 people in Paris in November and 32 people in Brussels last month.

Belgium’s Federal Prosecution Office also charged a Herve B. M. and Bilal E. M. All four were charged with participating in “terrorist murders” and the “activities of a terrorist group,” AP reported. Two other suspects arrested in recent days were released.

For his part, Krayem is also suspected of playing a role in the Paris attacks and was reportedly caught on security cameras in Brussels at the scene where the airport bombers bought their bags.

Brussels is still operating under the country’s second-highest terror alert.

The AP noted Belgian investigators have been facing intense criticism in national media for mishandling prior leads, almost pressuring the interior and justice ministers to resign.

One week ago, Belgian police crushed an anti-racism protest and detained at least two dozen protesters at Brussels’ Bourse square.

The protest, along with many others, had been banned by the government, part of a blanket moratorium on demonstrations across the country. Police and soldiers have been roaming the country breaking up protests carried about by citizens from across the political spectrum.