Belgium charges 3 more in attacks

Associated Press

BRUSSELS

Belgian prosecutors announced Saturday they have charged three men with terror offenses over the suicide attacks on the Brussels airport and subway, as organizers canceled a solidarity rally at the government’s request because police are too strapped to cope.

At a news conference in Brussels, officials confirmed that 24 of the 31 people killed in the attacks Tuesday had been identified, and a doctor who had served in Afghanistan said he and his colleagues have been shocked by the extreme burns suffered by some of the 270 people wounded.

Federal prosecutors said a man identified as Faycal C., who was arrested Thursday, has been charged with “involvement in a terrorist group, terrorist murder and attempted terrorist murder.”

Belgian media say he is Faycal Cheffou, the man in the light vest and hat pictured on security video with two men who blew themselves up at the airport. Cheffou is described as a local activist known to police for trying to rally asylum-seekers and homeless people to radical Islam.

Prosecutors would not confirm the Belgian media reports. A police raid was conducted at his home, but no arms or explosives were found, they said.

Two other suspects detained Thursday and identified as Raba N. and Aboubakar A. were charged with “involvement in the activities of a terrorist group.” In addition, a man named as Abderamane A. who was taken into custody Friday after he was shot by police at a Brussels tram stop is being held for at least 24 more hours.

The suicide bombings during Tuesday’s peak morning travel time at the Brussels Airport and a city subway station killed 31 people, officials confirmed Saturday. That toll is likely to rise as some body parts have still not been identified, they said.

Brussels prosecutor Ine Van Wymersch told The Associated Press that 24 of the victims have been identified, and 11 of them were foreigners. One was a former Belgian ambassador to the United States, Andre Adam.

Of the 270 wounded, 93 are being treated at a Brussels military hospital. A doctor there said Saturday that 15 people are in a serious-burns unit, five of them in intensive care.