Belgian prosecutor’s office denies any link between Belgium, Paris attack

The Belgian federal prosecutor’s office denied any link between Belgium and the attack on Thursday night on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, media reported on Friday. (Photo: MJWein/Flickr)

BRUSSELS—The Belgian federal prosecutor’s office denied any link between Belgium and the attack on Thursday night on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, media reported on Friday.

Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon said on Friday morning that any hypothesis is not excluded: “The investigation is underway. We can only say that the author is French.”

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel condemned this “cowardly and ignoble aggression.” He, along with Foreign Minister Didier Reynders, offered his support to France which was struck by the attack just days before the first round of presidential elections.

Shortly after the attack on Thursday night, several French media reported that the Belgian authorities had notified France of the probable arrival in Paris on Thursday morning of a 35-year-old Belgian.

In a document cited by the French media, it is specified that the federal judicial police in Antwerp of Belgium conducted a search at the individual’s home. Weapons and hoods had been found.

On Friday morning, the French Ministry of the Interior confirmed that the Belgian authorities had reported to the French authorities the man in question, Youssouf E. O., while specifying that the individual had presented himself at an Antwerp police station.