Six face terror charges after Belgian swoop

Belgian authorities today charged six suspected al-Qaida-linked extremists with membership of a terrorist group.

A judge decided there was insufficient evidence to hold eight other suspects picked up in an anti-terror swoop carried out yesterday. The raids came hours before the start of a European Union summit of 27 government leaders in the Belgian capital.

Spokeswoman Lieve Pellens of the federal prosecutor’s office said the six charged constituted the hard core of a terrorist group and included one militant who allegedly was plotting a suicide attack.