Page 8 - ARUBA TODAY

A8 WORLD NEWS
Friday 23 February 2018

Police seal off Brussels streets amid reports of gunman

BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgian copter flew overhead.
police sealed off part of The incident began af-
a Brussels suburb Thursday ter a Polish man reported
and searched two apart- what he said was a murder,
ments, warning residents to Calie said. When police ar-
stay inside following witness rived at the address they
reports that an armed man found nothing. "It seems he
could be at large. may have expressed him-
The area in the Forest neigh- self badly," Calie said.
borhood was reopened af- But witnesses there said
ter about three hours and that an incident had hap-
police spokeswoman Kath- pened at a nearby building
leen Calie later confirmed and they reported seeing
the incident was not terror- an armed man, so offi-
related. cers from Belgium's special
During the search, Associ- federal police force were
ated Press television im- called in, she said.
ages showed armed po- "We can rule out terrorism,"
lice officers hiding behind Calie said. Earlier, broad-
buildings and staking out a caster RTL quoted Forest
rooftop. mayor Marc-Jean Ghyssels
Masked police, some with as saying that police "sus-
automatic weapons, were pect the presence of an Police guard a corner during a police operation in Brussels on Thursday, Feb. 22 2018. Belgian
aiming their guns high at armed man." The area was police have sealed off part of a Brussels suburb amid media reports that an armed man could be
a building near the Place sealed off at around 12:15 at large.
Saint-Denis. A police heli- p.m. (1115 GMT) and peo- (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
ple were warned to stay in was caught up in a shoot- on high alert. In March 2016
their homes. A suspect in out with police in a nearby suicide bomb attacks on
the deadly Paris attacks in apartment. Belgium re- the Brussels airport and an
November 2015, Salah Ab- cently lowered its threat underground station killed
deslam, hid in Forest and level after almost two years 32 people.q

Russia:
Opposition leader Navalny detained

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian when he would appear in in Russia's once politically
opposition leader Alexei court. Navalny, who is Pres- dormant provinces which
Navalny, who has been ident Vladimir Putin's most have traditionally voted
barred from running in the formidable foe, spear- for Putin. The anti-corrup-
next month's presidential headed protest rallies last tion campaigner was de-
election, said he was brief- month, calling for a boy- nied a place on the bal-
ly detained by police on cott of the upcoming presi- lot in December because
Thursday. dential vote. He was briefly of a fraud conviction that
Navalny said on his Twit- detained at a Jan. 28 pro- many view as politically
ter account that he was test in Moscow but police motivated. Separately,
nabbed early Thursday af- did not immediately bring Navalny's campaign chief
ternoon as he was leaving any charges against him. Leonid Volkov said he was
a dentist's office in Mos- Navalny's allies speculated detained at a Moscow air-
cow. Less than an hour lat- that police would delay port earlier on Thursday. His
er he tweeted that he was charging him to allow au- whereabouts were not im-
taken to a police station thorities to keep him be- mediately clear. Navalny's
where he was presented hind bars on the election boycott campaign is worri-
with charges of organizing date, March 18. some for the Kremlin, which
an unsanctioned rally and Navalny mounted a na- fears that a lower voter
released. There was no of- tionwide grass-roots presi- turnout would be seen as a
ficial confirmation and it dential campaign last year, sign of declining support for
was not immediately clear tapping into the discontent Putin.q