International
Yves Herman / Reuters
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel pledged a security crackdown and an extra $427 million of funding for security on Thursday, while rejecting criticism of Belgium's security services in the wake of the Paris attacks. Those comments were echoed by Jan Jambon, the Belgian interior minister, who said the country has "put everything in place to guarantee as much security as we can."
Michel told Parliament that the government, in response to last week’s attacks, would introduce laws to jail fighters returning from Syria, ban hate preachers and close down unregistered places of worship.
His comments came as French authorities announced that Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks, was killed in a police raid in a northern suburb of the French capital on Wednesday.
French President Francois Hollande said the coordinated suicide bombings and shootings that killed at least 129 people had been planned in Belgium. French media quoted an intelligence source as saying, "The Belgians just aren't up to it."
Michel stopped short of acknowledging the attacks had been organized from Belgium, blaming "Franco-Belgian cells."
"Also I don't accept the criticism seeking to disparage our security services, who do a difficult and tough job," Michel said, adding that French raids on Wednesday in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis were the result of a tip-off from Belgium.
The prime minister said Belgium would amend laws to convict or expel hate preachers and close unrecognized and clandestine mosques and Islamic cultural centers.
When asked if the safety of Europeans could be guaranteed in the aftermath of the Paris attacks, interior minister Jambon said nobody could promise as much.
"I think nobody can, nor [French President Francois] Hollande nor [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel and also we in this country we can't [say that] 100 percent," Jambon told Al Jazeera. "I can say that we have put everything in place to guarantee as much security as we can."
Analysts often point to the Belgian group Sharia4Belgium, which has been able to speak out in public for years until 2014, when several of its members were convicted for recruiting fighters to go to Syria.
"Religious freedom is guaranteed by the constitution but places of worship cannot become places to spread jihadism," Michel said.
He said the government would also make it impossible to buy mobile phone cards anonymously and would allow police to carry out house searches at any time of the day or night. These are currently only allowed between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m.
The Brussels district of Molenbeek has been at the center of investigations into last week's attacks in Paris after it emerged that at least two of the attackers had lived there.
As he spoke, Belgian police were carrying fresh raids in Molenbeek and elsewhere in Brussels related to the Paris attacks, prosecutors said.
Ahead of an emergency meeting of justice and interior ministers in Brussels on Friday, Michel said it was vital for the European Union to reinforce its external borders.
France is set to call for the rapid adoption of an EU database of airline passengers, which has been stalled in the European Parliament due to privacy concerns.
Michel said Belgium was looking at introducing registers of passenger names flying or taking high-speed trains into and out of the country.
Belgium would support French military efforts by sending a vessel to escort French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle.
Michel also said he had spoken to British Prime Minister David Cameron and suggested an exchange of intelligence information.
Al Jazeera and Reuters. Additional reporting by Lisa De Bode in Brussels
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