Brussels mayor cancels New Year fireworks over attack fears

Authorities in the Belgian capital Brussels on Wednesday (December 30) called off the city’s traditional New Year’s Eve fireworks display, citing fears of a militant attack.

On Tuesday, federal prosecutors said two people suspected of plotting an attack in Brussels on New Year’s Eve had been arrested during house searches in different parts of the country.

Brussels mayor Yvan Mayeur replied positively said there was a concrete threat, adding he decided with Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon to not have the celebrations on Thursday evening in De Brouckere square, located in Central Brussels.

“That’s what the (Belgian) Crisis Centre concluded, as well as all the institutions and the prosecutor. I also had contacts with Interior Minister Jan Jambon, everybody said the same thing. There is a threat, we’re on alert level three, there is a risk with the fireworks particularly in the city centre. I will not take a risk with the public. That’s what is the most important for me,” Mayeur said.

In the busy shopping district of Louise, close to the heavily guarded courthouse, Brussels residents welcomed the decision.

A 38-year old administrative clerk living in Brussels, Alouza Diallo said it’s better to remain cautious given the recent events,

“For me, this is good news, honestly. After everything that happened here, it’s better to be cautious than to try to party,” Diallo said.

A 73-year old pensioner from Brussels, Monique Merlin said she’s happy with the decision.

“I’m very happy about the cancellation. It became such a controversy and it’s a dangerous location: above the roofs, in the middle of the city,” Merlin said.

However, French tourist Antoine Humbert, who travelled to Brussels to attend the celebration, said he was disappointed.

“Obviously, we’re all a bit disappointed. We came here for this reason. We come from (the French region of) Savoy to enjoy Brussels’s atmosphere. I think it will be spoiled by these events,” said Humbert, who lives in Savoy but works as a real estate agent in Geneva.

The two people arrested, named as 30-year-old Said S. and 27-year-old Mohammed K., would be held for one more month as they were charged with threatening to carry out a terrorist attack.

The suspects, who appeared in court on Thursday, belong to the Kamikaze Riders, a motorbike club whose members are mostly of North African origin and whose bike stunts can be seen in various online videos.

Belgian police have detained six other people during house searches in Brussels on Thursday (December 31) in connection with the plot.

A judge would decide later on Thursday whether they could be held further.

Belgium has been at the heart of investigations into attacks in Paris on Nov. 13 in which 130 people were killed.

Two of the Paris suicide bombers, Brahim Abdeslam and Bilal Hadfi, had been living in Belgium. On Wednesday, a source close to the French investigation confirmed a report that said at least one man was suspected of having coordinated the attacks by mobile phone from Belgium as they were being carried out.

Brussels last cancelled its New Year fireworks in 2007, when it was also on high alert after a plan was foiled to free Tunisian Nizar Trabelsi, convicted of plotting to blow up a military base.