A Belgian of Moroccan origin suspected of being involved in the preparation of “imminent terrorist projects” in Morocco was arrested at the end of the week in the Brussels region, Belgian federal prosecutor spokesman Éric Van Der said on Saturday followingnoon. Sypt. He specifies that the suspect, aged 27, has been placed under an arrest warrant by a Brussels investigating judge. The question of his possible extradition to Morocco has not yet arisen.
“He was arrested and placed under an arrest warrant, because he is suspected of having wanted to organize an attack in Morocco“, explained Éric Van Der Sypt. “We worked in good collaboration with the Moroccan services“.
The arrest of Abdellah Al-Beljiki was carried out with the cooperation of the Moroccan intelligence services (DGST), the AFP news agency announced on Friday evening on the basis of a press release from the Moroccan anti-terrorist police. The Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) clarified that this arrest is to be linked to the arrest on Wednesday in southern Morocco of a “extremist“27-year-old Moroccan affiliated with the jihadist organization Islamic State (IS). The latter is suspected of having recruited executors to implement”a terrorist plan with cross-border ramifications“on Moroccan territory.
The individual arrested in Belgium transferred money in euros to “suspect arrested in Morocco, at the beginning of March, as a first advance within the framework of progressive financing operations for the acquisition of compounds and chemical products used in the preparation and manufacture of explosives“, details the BCIJ press release, reported by AFP. In addition, the Belgian suspect is involved in “incitement to the creation of a local terrorist organization to carry out subversive operations in Morocco“.
