Man wants to go to concert with gallons of gasoline
15,000 people flock to the concert by Congolese musician Fally Ipupa in Brussels on Saturday evening. At the entrance to the venue, a man carrying several bottles of petrol catches the eye. He is said to belong to a Congolese protest movement.
On Saturday evening, the Brussels police arrested a man who was allegedly planning an attack on a concert by a Congolese artist in the Belgian capital. The Brussels public prosecutor's office confirmed corresponding reports from several media outlets.
The man was checked at around 5.30 pm at the entrance to the ING Arena concert hall, explained the spokesman for the public prosecutor's office, Willemien Baert. "He allegedly told a concertgoer that he wanted to set his car on fire." He had four half-liter bottles filled with petrol, two lighters and matches with him. The police then arrested the 53-year-old man of Congolese origin and questioned him, Baert continued. The examining magistrate released him under conditions.
Investigators suspect a political motive behind the alleged planned attack. According to the Flemish newspaper "Het Nieuwsblad", the man is said to belong to the protest movement "Combattants Congolais", which was originally founded by Congolese in France to oppose the policies of the former president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Joseph Kabila. Congolese singer, guitarist and composer Fally Ipupa, whom the group accuses of being close to the current president of the Congo, performed at the ING Arena on Saturday evening. When the musician performed in Paris in 2020, there were riots and over 50 people were taken into custody.
As "Het Nieuwsblad" reports, several members of the "Combattants Congolais" had gathered before the concert in Brussels. Ipupa performed in front of around 15,000 spectators.
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The alleged plot to attack the concert by Congolese musician Fally Ipupa in Brussels raises concerns of terrorist activities, given the man's association with a Congolese protest movement known for its political motivations in Belgium. The terrorist threat was reminiscent of the 2020 incidents in Paris where the same protest group caused disturbances during an Ipupa concert, resulting in the arrest of over 50 people.
The arrest in Brussels of the man planning an attack on the Congolese artist's concert coincides with the brutal terrorist attacks in Belgium's capital, Brussels, in 2016, which highlighted the international community's concern over terrorist activities.
Source: www.ntv.de
