Belgium battles terror on two fronts on New Year's Eve

Battling terror on two fronts, Belgian police were holding eight people today over an alleged New Year plot in Brussels and also arrested a tenth suspect over last month's massacre in Paris.
Both Brussels and Paris have cancelled annual New Year's Eve fireworks displays as soldiers and police ramped up security in European capitals over perceived terror threats.
"It's better not to take any risks," Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur said when he announced the showpiece event's cancellation late yesterday.
Prosecutors said two men had already been formally charged with terrorism-related offences and police detained six more people today for questioning over an alleged plot to strike "emblematic sites" in the Belgian capital during the year-end festivities.

They identified the pair as Said S, 30, and Mohammed K, 27. The men's lawyers told AFP their full names are Said Saouti and Mohammed Karay.
A source close to the investigation also told AFP that officials were trying to determine whether members of a motorcyle gang called the "Kamikaze Riders" were involved.

Six other people were detained following seven police raids in and around the Belgian capital in which computer equipment, mobile phones and "airsoft material" were seized, it added. Airsoft is a type of airgun.
Brussels has been on high alert since it emerged that several of the attackers involved in the Paris carnage on November 13 had links to the Belgian capital.

Prosecutors said today they have arrested a 10th suspect over the attacks in Paris claimed by the Islamic State group that killed 130 people and wounded many more. They charged him with terror offences.
The Belgian national, identified only as Ayoub B, was detained yesterday during a raid on a house in the troubled Brussels immigrant neighbourhood of Molenbeek, a statement from the federal prosecutor's office said.
He has been charged with "terrorist murder" and involvement in the activities of a terrorist group, it said, adding that he will appear in court again within five days for a custody hearing.

Molenbeek is home to the Paris attacks fugitive Salah Abdeslam and has served in the past decades as a haven for jihadists.
Mayeur said yesterday that fireworks and related events in the central square of Place de Brouckere had been cancelled because it was not possible to "guarantee that we can check everyone coming to the event" in the current circumstances.
Last year, some 100,000 people turned out to watch the traditional New Year's Eve fireworks display.
But the Horeca professional association of restaurants, hotels and cafes urged people to celebrate in a careful way.
"We must be vigilant but we must still open champagne and drink it!" Horteca President Yvan Roque said.