Belgium
Sweden and Italy called for tighter security measures at Europe’s borders after a man identified in reports as Abdesalem Lassoued was shot
Tue 17 Oct 2023 7.20pm BST
A Tunisian man who killed two Swedish citizens in a terror attack in Brussels was “probably a lone wolf”, the Belgian prime minister said, as Sweden and Italy called for security to be tightened at Europe’s borders.
Sweden’s prime minister said the country is suffering “unfathomable grief” after the fatal shooting of two Swedish soccer fans, one in their 60s and one in their 70s, and the injury of a taxi driver.
Ahead of a planned visit to Brussels on Wednesday to take part in a memorial ceremony, Ulf Kristersson warned that it was time for Europe to strengthen security. “This is a time for greater security; We can’t be naive,” he said.
“We have an openness in Europe and that is one of the important reasons why we need to keep an eye on the EU’s external borders, otherwise people can easily move between European countries,” he added.
“These terrorists want to scare us into obedience and silence. That will not happen.”
The suspected attacker, identified in reports as Abdesalem Lassoued, 45, shot the two men and wounded the third with an automatic rifle on Monday evening before fleeing the scene on a scooter. He was shot dead by police on Tuesday morning outside a cafe in the Schaerbeek district near Brussels city center.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson spoke of his country’s “unfathomable sadness” at a press conference on Tuesday. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT/Shutterstock
Investigators said the suspect claimed in a video on social media that he was a fighter “for Allah,” sparking concerns about a possible wave of radicalization sparked by the war between Israel and Hamas.
Prosecutors, who initially said there was no evidence the attack was related to the conflict, said on Tuesday that such a connection was being investigated.
“We initially said there would be no connection to the events in Gaza, but we have since discovered that he has shared a number of statements of support for the Palestinian people on his social media,” said Eric Van Der Sypt of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office . “So that might have played a role.”
The public prosecutor announced that “all possible avenues” would be examined. One possible line of investigation is that the shooter was motivated by protests in Sweden in which the Koran, Islam’s holy book, was burned. In response to the anger sparked by the fires, Swedish intelligence increased its threat level on a scale from five to four in August.
Belgium is still reeling from terrorist attacks in 2016 that killed 32 people and injured more than 300. However, so far the investigation has revealed no links between the shooter and other groups or evidence of a terrorist cell operating in Belgium.
At a press conference, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said that the security threat level for Brussels had actually been lowered from level 4 to level 3 following the fatal shooting of the attacker.
“We managed to neutralize the culprit. So there was no longer an immediate threat,” De Croo said, adding that he was “probably a lone wolf, but we cannot rule out copycat behavior.”
However, threat level 3, which has not been in effect for more than five years, indicates that terrorist attacks are “possible and likely”, with additional security forces being deployed to secure specific areas and institutions such as the EU headquarters.
On Tuesday it was revealed that Lassoued had traveled to the Italian island of Lampedusa in 2011 and then moved to Sweden, from where he was deported after a period in prison, the Swedish Migration Agency said. He is then said to have returned to Italy, where he was identified by police in Bologna in 2016 as a “radicalized subject” who was also monitored by secret services.
The man then moved to Belgium.
Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne confirmed that the perpetrator was “on the radar of the security services” for illegal residence and four other crimes, but was not on the country’s list of potential terrorists. He added that he had no criminal record.
The shooter’s background is likely to reignite the debate about migration to the EU. The Italian interior minister called on Brussels to speed up the implementation of the controversial agreement with Tunisia to curb people smuggling across the Mediterranean.
In his speech on Tuesday, Kristersson expressed particular concern for Swedish citizens. “All signs point to this being a terrorist attack aimed at Swedes and Swedish citizens simply because they are Swedes,” he said.
His thoughts were with the “innocent deceased”, the injured man and his relatives, as well as with the Swedish fans in the stadium who had traveled to Belgium for the Euro 2024 qualifier between Belgium and Sweden. The flag in front of the Swedish parliament flew at half-mast on Tuesday.
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