BBC:
14:20
Salah Abdeslam may be equipped with a suicide belt, according to Hamza Attou, one of two suspects charged this week by Belgian authorities for allegedly helping Abdeslam return to the country after the Paris terror attacks.
Carine Couquelet, Attou’s lawyer, told Belgian TV channel LCI that her client had said that Abdeslam seemed very agitated in the vehicle that brought him back to Brussels from Paris.
“My client was very scared, they did not talk much and he [Abdeslam] did not mention the presence of weapons, but he wore a kind of big jacket, possibly a suicide belt,” she was quoted as saying by L’Echo.
Guardian:
14:44
‘Security alert’ at Blackfriars as police block roads
There seems to be a security alert much closer to home. A tweet warns that armed police are out near Southwark station, just south of the River Thames in London.
My colleagues are investigating this latest incident and we will hopefully have more details soon.
14:48
Carmen Fishwick Carmen Fishwick
Brussels is on lock-down, with its metro, shopping centres and public buildings all closed for the weekend. The public has been warned to avoid “places where a lot of people come together†by government officials, and there is visible army presence on the street.
Guardian readers are sharing their experiences of what it’s like living in a city on with warnings of a “serious and imminent†threat of an attack. If you’re in Brussels, tell us what’s happening where you are.
Guardian reader europhoric, is in Molenbeek, the suburb of Brussels which was home to two of the Paris gunmen.
It’s been an interesting experience this week, with news reports on the BBC from outside my metro station and articles in the New York Times mentioning streets I often walk down.
I’m currently at home – the closure of the metro means I’ve had to abandon my plans for the day – watching the news, and can see a police helicopter flying low out of my window. The street is empty save for the occasional passing car.
The sudden attention focused on where I live doesn’t reflect my daily experience of Molenbeek, which is for the most part is a fairly quiet part of town albeit with significant unemployment and deprivation. Now the entire city is in a sort of lock-down, with shops and public buildings closed.
I was awoken by a phone call from my employer who is a British official body telling me that our offices may be closed for security reasons next week. Government ministers are now talking about sending police to search every house in Molenbeek in the near future. It’s a strange feeling.
The lawyer fully embraced the serpent.
Event to the extent of sitting next to him while she thinks he's wearing a suicide vest!