Belgium Frees Terror Suspects

Court finds lack of evidence to hold 14 men; country remains on high alert
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 22, 2007 4:01 PM CST
Belgium Frees Terror Suspects
Alleged Al-Qaeda militant, Tunisian Nizar Trabelsi arrives escoted by policemen at the Brussels justice palace to introduce a summary procedure against Belgian State to protest his sentence, 30 September 2004. The 14 men detained in Belgium yesterday were thought to be plotting to free Trabelsi. (ETIENNE...   (Getty Images)

Today Belgian police released 14 men accused of plotting to break free an al-Qaeda suicide bomber, the AP reports. A court ruled there was not enough evidence to justify holding them more than 24 hours—the standard time to present evidence on a suspect in Belgium. "The police get the same time to question a terrorist as they would a shoplifter," one expert said. "It's a judicial fiasco."

Prosecutors vowed to continue the probe and said that security measures enacted nationwide after the arrests would continue. "According to our investigation there were sufficient indications pointing to a terrorist threat," a federal spokeswoman said. "That is why we did not wait to detain the suspects." (More Belgium stories.)

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