Belgium charges Tunisian man in relation to Brussels Islamist attack

• The gunman targeted Swedes who were in Brussels to watch Belgium play Sweden in a European championship soccer match

BRUSSELS: Belgium said on Thursday that it had arrested a 45-year old Tunisian man in connection with the gun attack earlier this month by another Tunisian who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State and shot dead two Swedes.
The Brussels Federal Prosecutor said a Tunisian identified as Lamjed K was arrested this week over the October 16 attack and was charged with murder and attempted murder in a terrorist context and participation in the activities of a terrorist organization.
“The federal public prosecutor’s Office only wishes to confirm that he can possibly be linked to the weapon used during the terrorist attack on 16 October 2023,” it said in a statement.
The gunman behind the October 16 attack called himself Abdesalem Al Guilani. He had unsuccessfully sought asylum in Belgium in 2019 and was living in Belgium illegally.
The gunman targeted Swedes who were in Brussels to watch Belgium play Sweden in a European championship soccer match. The game had to be abandoned, and a police manhunt for the gunman culminated in police shooting him dead.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called the shooting a “brutal terrorist attack,” and criticism over how Belgian authorities had been monitoring the gunman resulted in the resignation of the Belgium Justice Minister.