Greece arrests four Muslims over Belgian terror plot to kill police, inspired by the beheading of Lee Rigby

Greece arrests four jihadists over Belgian terror plot inspired by the murder of Lee Rigby, including one who ‘matches the description’ of the ringleader

• Four suspected jihadists detained by Greek police over Belgian terror plot
• One of the men matches description of leader Abdelhamid Abaaoud, 27
• Greek police have sent photos, fingerprints and DNA material to Belgium
• Troops were deployed across Belgium today to guard potential targets 

By Thomas Burrows for MailOnline
Published: 20:01, 17 January 2015

Greek police have detained four suspected jihadists over the Belgian terror plot inspired by the murder of fusilier Lee Rigby two years ago.

Counter-terrorist units prevented a jihadist plot on Thursday evening, killing two gunmen and wounding another in a shootout in Verviers, in eastern Belgium.

One of the men arrested today ‘matches the description’ of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, 27, the man Belgian authorities believe was the mastermind behind the plot.

Police officers investigate the scene of the raid after killing two members of a Belgian terror cell in Verviers.

This image of blood splattered across the inside of a house in Verviers, Belgium shows the aftermath of the police raid which averted a potential ‘second Paris’ attack.

Suspects: Two jihadis killed in an anti-terror raid in Verviers, Belgium, are believed to be Redouane Hagaoui (left), also known as Abu Khalid Al Maghribi, and Tarik Jadaoun (right), who has the alias Abu Hamza Belgiki.

Greek police arrested a man today which ‘matches the description’ of ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud, 27.

Greek police have sent photos, fingerprints and DNA material to Belgium and are waiting to see whether the person is Abaaoud, a police official told Associated Press.

Belgian media reported that investigators were still hunting for one man – a Belgian with Moroccan roots – who had gone to fight with ISIS in Syria and was thought to be in Greece.

Troops were deployed across Belgium today to guard potential targets. Uniformed soldiers could be seen outside Jewish schools and government buildings.

It was the first time in 30 years that authorities used troops to reinforce police, and they said the number of troops could double until a review of situation next week.

Defence officials said the nation’s security threat level would remain raised at three – the second highest level – for at least week.

Federal prosecutor Eric Van der Sypt, who coordinated a series of raids on 12 alleged terrorist hideouts across Belgium, told Mail Online: ‘Their plan was to launch attacks similar to that in London when a soldier was killed. They wanted to kill policeman on the street .’

The radical Islamic group also wanted to film the horrific murder and then circulate the footage online, bringing the brutality of ISIS to the West, police sources said.

Guns, munitions and explosives, as well as police uniforms and a large amount of money, were all seized by police during the operation.

The group was reportedly equipped with Belgian police uniforms, four Kalashnikov machine guns, handguns and explosives.

Another part of their twisted plot included taking a number of hostages by seizing a bus, it was reported by Belgium’s RTL broadcaster.

Police charged five people on Friday with ‘participating in the activities of a terrorist group’.

A Belgian para-commando patrols near a synagogue in Antwerp today as the country stepped up security.

Security around Belgium has been stepped up after thirteen people were detained in an anti-terror sweep.

Belgian police officers outside a house in Verviers where two suspected Islamic State jihadis were shot dead.

A third suspect was also arrested after Belgian special forces stormed the apartment in Verviers.

Europe is on high alert after Islamist gunmen killed 17 people in Paris. More than 20 people have been arrested in Belgium, France and Germany.

No link has been established between the terrorist plot in Belgium and last week’s attacks in Paris which killed 12 people at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, a policewoman and four hostages at a kosher supermarket.

Belgium has seen a particularly large number of people join extremists in Syria, and is ‘the worst affected country in Europe relative to population size’, said Peter Neumann of the London-based International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation.

He estimates 450 people have left Belgium to fight with Islamic radical groups in Syria, and that 150 have returned home.

BELGIUM: A HUB FOR JIHADISTS 

Belgian has long been viewed as a hub for jihadists going to Syria.

A high-profile court case is currently going on in Antwerp in which 43 men and three women alleged to be members of Sharia4Belgium, a group linked with IS. Thirty-seven are still believed to be in Syria, including two of the three women, and are being tried in absentia. Charges range from terrorism to kidnapping and murder.

Mehdi Nemmouche, a 29-year-old alleged French jihadist is currently awaiting trial in Brussels for shooting dead four people at the city’s Jewish Museum after returning to Europe from Syria last year.

Belgium, which has long been home to a large Muslim population, is believed to have the highest proportion of citizens who have left to fight in the Middle East, after Britain. Estimates put the number of Belgian citizens who have travelled to the Syrian region – so-called ‘foreign fighters’ – at up to 400.

According to Europol, Belgium was one of a number of EU countries that defused terrorist plots last year. Dutch media reported in October that Belgian police had averted a planned terrorist attack on the European Commission’s Berlaymont building in Brussels.

Elsewhere today, two French citizens have been arrested by authorities in Yemen on suspicion of being members of Al-Qaeda, the country’s national security chief said.

General Ali Hassan al-Ahmadi said the pair were held on charges of belonging to the militant group.

He did not mention whether they were involved in this month’s attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Speaking to reporters in the capital, Sanaa, he said that al Qaida has around 1,000 members in Yemen, from 11 different Arab and non-Arab countries.