Belgium rules out Greek link to foiled attack plot

Greece said it had found no evidence linking people they detained for questioning on Saturday to a foiled plot to attack Belgian police, which prompted the deployment of hundreds of troops to guard possible targets, including Jewish sites and diplomatic missions.

Greek police detained over a half dozen people and were sending DNA samples to Belgian counterparts. Belgian state broadcasters said authorities were seeking a Brussels man of Moroccan origin, who was hiding in Greece, the alleged mastermind of a Belgian cell that was dismantled in a recent operation.

"We have not identified anyone related to the Belgian plot from the people we detained," a senior Greek police official told Reuters.

On Thursday, police killed two gunmen during raids in the east Belgian town of Verviers. Thirteen suspects were arrested throughout the country and two others held in France on Belgium's request.

Up to 300 military will be stationed at locations such as the U.S. and Israeli embassies in Brussels and NATO and EU institutions, Belgian Defense Minister Steven Vandeput said on Saturday.

Troops will reinforce police at least until Thursday, when authorities will review the national threat level, set at 3 on a scale of 4 this week. Among the places the soldiers are protecting in Brussels is the Jewish Museum, which last May was the site of an attack, when a lone gunman burst into the then unguarded site and killed four people. 

There will also be soldiers in Antwerp, the country's second largest city, which has a large Jewish community, the minister said. "In Antwerp the largest threat is there," Vandeput said, referring to the Jewish community. "It is also where people are most worried."

Some Jewish schools in Belgium and the Netherlands were closed on Thursday, reflecting the heightening of an atmosphere of caution that has prevailed across Europe since three gunmen killed 17 people in Paris last week at a Jewish grocery and the offices of the satirical French newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

In Germany, 250 police officers conducted raids of at least 11 residences in Berlin and took two men into custody on suspicion of recruiting fighters and procuring equipment and funding the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.

Wire services