18/03/2016 World News Today

This is BBC News. Continuing coverage of the police raid in

Brussels. The main developments. At least two suspects have been

arrested in the raid, including the only known surviving gunman from

last year's Terrace attacks in Paris, in which 130 people died.

This is the moment that Belgian special Armed Forces began the raid

on the property. Salah Abdeslam was arrested after being shot and

wounded. He has been on the run since the Paris attacks in November.

More explosions in the district have been heard tonight as police hunt

for more suspects who fled the scene. This is the live in the

Belgian capital where police have sealed off the area where the raid

took place. There are reports of more arrests.

Hello and welcome to BBC News. Anti-terror police in the Belgian

capital of Brussels say they have arrested three people, including the

main suspect in the Paris attacks last November. Sal Abdeslam was

detained after anti-terror police carried out a raid in the Mullen

back area of the city, during which shots were fired.

Abdeslam, 26, has been on the run since November. It is believed he

played a key role in the attacks last November which killed 130

people. Media are reporting police have also captured two other

suspects. As ambulances were heading to the

scene, police sources here in Brussels were already saying they

had got their man. Sal Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris attacks,

sources said shot in the leg and in custody. Filmed by an eyewitness,

police amassing as they hunted him. It was mid afternoon in a Molenbeek

area of Brussels. Dozens of units descended. There was gunfire. One

witness said he saw a man being chased down the road, shot and then

falling. For Belgian police, this seems to have been a considerable

success. Sal Abdeslam, the prime suspect from the Paris attacks,

wounded in the leg and then the teams arrested at the top of this

street, following these police investigations that have been going

on since the Paris attacks, which have traced to this location.

Belgian's Prime Minister Charles Michel rushed out of the summit of

European leaders taking place across town to be briefed on the operation.

He and Francis Holland were briefed on the situation. Sal Abdeslam has

evaded police since November. Prosecutors say he was a key player

in the Paris attacks. Earlier this week, his fingers were found after

police raid this house in Brussels. It is thought he may have escaped

out of a back window as another man fired at offices to give them pinned

down. Police were on his trail and closing in, the neighbours had no

idea he had been in the house. I opened my door to pick up my son at

school and I heard a lot of policeman yelling at me, go home, go

home, go home. Actually, this shooting had just happened, the

first one, and the operation was happening just in front of me and we

didn't realise. Sal Abdeslam has been taken to hospital to be treated

for his ruins. No officers were injured in the operation. After

months of painstaking, this was a success for the police, but it has

also raised tensions in Molenbeek this evening. Riot police were

brought in to deal with groups drawn in by the presence of so many

officers on the streets. Hopefully we will be talking to

Damien later in Mullen -- Molenbeek, but let's cross

Damien later in Mullen -- Molenbeek, bring us up to speed with where we

are now. In the last bring us up to speed with where we

reports of more bring us up to speed with where we

streets of Molenbeek and also local media reports of further arrests.

Bell that is the situation at the moment. The operation does seem to

be ongoing. Reports of explosions that I believe we are not sure

exactly what might be causing them. We know Sal Abdeslam has been

arrested and injured. A second man has also been arrested. He is

another person who is wanted in relation to those attacks. Those

reports are coming out now of a third person, possibly being

arrested by police, and I think Damien was saying earlier that there

were reports that police were targeting another house in the area

where he may have been hiding from them.

Lucy, I presume this is being covered wall-to-wall in France. This

must come as a huge relief. The most wanted man in Europe and of course

in France, months after those deadly attacks on November 13, has at last

been captured. This is very big news in France. A great relief I should

imagine for the government here. The authorities had been under enormous

pressure to capture him. He was the key surviving suspects from those

attacks. As such, the fact he has been captured alive and is

potentially able to answer questions will be of enormous interest to the

government here. The attacks still have left a real scar under Franz

and the threat against France remains very strong. We are told the

president has repeatedly warned it is being targeted by groups like

Islamic State. The fact they have caught a man who can potentially

give them valuable information about other people who might be connected

to the network about logistics. It will be of incredible value to the

intelligence services, who are trying to stop future attacks. The

$64,000 question is whether he is able to tell them whether he will

choose to. The fact he has been caught alive is a huge boost to the

security forces in France and Belgium, who have been under

increasing pressure to bring this opportunity to a successful

conclusion. Lucy, there is a real sense, is there not, in France, that

it is still a target and remains a target. It is a country on a

heightened sense of alert. The government has already said they

have managed to foil several attacks in the past

few months and it is clear that France has been regularly named by

militants he would choose to do damage towards it. Still very much a

question of how best to of the problems of the intelligence

agency is dealing with is that the profile of many people who have

carried out attacks in the past year is very broad. These are not people

who are seen as ardent Islamist militants. These are people who are

perhaps more known to local police as petty criminals who have made the

transition to militant Islam very, very quickly indeed. You might

remember there was talk of the Abdeslam brothers running a

bar, drinking alcohol, smoking cannabis, just

shortly before they carried out these attacks in the name of radical

Islam. It is difficult for the intelligence agency to pinpoint who

they should follow most closely, where they should put most of their

resources. Anything we can get -- they can get in the pursuit of

narrowing the search will be greatly appreciated. The problem is whether

Abdeslam will choose to talk. Indeed. Walk us through recent

events that led us to today. Of course involving huge amounts of

close cooperation of France and Belgium. A relationship that has not

been without its tensions. embarrassment that some of the

suspects managed to slip through the hands of the authorities. Sal

Abdeslam managed to cross checkpoints into Brussels after the

attacks and that was embarrassing for both sides. They have been

working together, as you say, not without tensions, but they have been

working together. The manhunt has been enormous. The resources given

have been enormous. We found on Tuesday there was a strong lead, a

strong sense they were on the right trail, when they found fingerprints

belonging to Sal Abdeslam in the property in Molenbeek and also an

exchange of gunfire with some of his presumed

was a real sense that they were on the right trail. Having said that,

they also found fingerprints of Sal Abdeslam in December which did not

leave them anywhere useful. It seems they have found

some information in that house, whether it

they arrested there, evidence they've done inside the property

that led them to where they are today, and they have Sal Abdeslam

final in custody. After this intends for manhunt.

We can speak to our reporter who was there when it took place. I was in

the centre of Molenbeek, where the house raid was. The house that was

rented by somebody and where Abdeslam was hiding. It is

in the centre of Molenbeek, close to the centre of Brussels.

really in the suburbs. It is close to the centre. What efforts were

made to protect civilians? We could see

people inside shops and walking along the street while this was

happening. When they raided the house worth Sal Abdeslam was hiding,

they had made a safety zone around the house and people were

-- Salah Abdeslam. The raids continued in several other places,

several other houses. We could see special forces were entering houses

around the neighbourhood without actually taking the civilians at a

distance. That was a bit frightening, because you could see

people who were trying to get to their

houses, but then police officers would stop

although there was not really a sign of a safety

zone. People didn't know where to go to. Extraordinary pictures, a normal

day in this part of the Belgian capital. These extremely heavily

armed police out on the streets. What did you hear? There were

reports of gunfire. What was the People were surprised and were

wondering what the sound was and where it was coming from. People

knew these were explosions, shootings, but they didn't really

want to believe that this was really happening in their neighbourhood.

People asked. They asked what is happening, why are they doing this?

People were frightened, wondering, wanted to know what was happening,

why they couldn't go home. That seems to be a

bit more quiet now. People are aware about

what is going on. They know that Salah Abdeslam is

arrested at the moment. Things aren't more quiet now. How much of a

relief will this be for the Belgian authorities, that this man, who has

been on the run for all this time, is finally in custody. On the one

hand, it is a relief because they have arrested and have him alive,

and he might eventually speak. It is a relief but on the other hand, this

whole operation also shows that the network is very broad, the Paris

attacks, but attacks that are still plans to take place later on, but it

is a relief on one hand, but it also shows that there is reason to be

concerned and worried about what are the other plans. . How is Molenbeek

compared with other districts which might Molenbeek has been in the

picture as the terrorist capital of Europe. It is true that Salah

Abdeslam has been found there. Not only is Molenbeek ablaze with these

guys are hiding, other districts of Brussels and also Antwerp is a

region where we find people connected to these networks. We

can't say that is Molenbeek is the one and only centre of terror in

Europe, not at all. In many countries across Europe, there are

efforts being made by the authorities to have a better

relationship with Islamic communities. What efforts are being

made in Belgium, in Brussels in particular, to reach out to these

groups? This is also something, last year already, after the foiled

attacks, where they found terrorists, they were starting to

approach the Moslem community to get a better understanding. Over the

last year, this didn't really help a lot. Lots of talking and nothing

really happening. After the Paris attacks, now politicians and

activists are doing a bigger effort to understand Islam and to

understand the community in Molenbeek and this is something we

see. It is new, the first steps are being made. It is not at all

finished yet, it is ongoing, but it is very important that this

continues. We appreciate you talking to us. She was at the scene as the

raid took place earlier in the afternoon.

Our world affairs editor joins me now. So much focus on this

particular suburb of Brussels. Molenbeek, a reference to its being

the tourist capital of Europe. Something we have heard bandied

about in the media since November 13. To what degree is this true? It

is difficult to tell, except that we have no significant number of the

people involved in the Paris attacks have come from that specific

district. It is a particularly rundown area, an area which is,

bizarrely, it seems very night. A heavy concentration of people from

North Africa, a lot of Muslims living in that area. Not much

connection with the rest of the city. Security officials talk about

it as being something of a breeding ground for jihadists. As we were

hearing just now, it is a broader problem across Belgium, but Bob what

we know is a very large numbers of Belgians in terms of per capita have

gone to fight in Iraq and Syria alongside so-called Islamic State

and quite a significant number have returned to Belgium. They clearly

have a very significant problem. As we are seeing now, the network of

people involved in the Paris attacks seems to be broadening and

broadening. The fact they are now saying that potentially three people

have been detained in this latest raid, more people, and obviously the

raids are ongoing. We have to see just quite how broad it is going to

go, but it seems like a significant number of people involved. Everyone

expected at the time, because it was such a sophisticated, well-planned

attack. I think we can now see some pictures of one of these recent

arrests that have taken place in Molenbeek. There we are. These are

not live pictures, this is from a few hours ago. Let's listen.

INDISTINCT SHOUTING. We are watching these pictures again

from a few hours ago. These are pictures of one of the arrests being

made on the streets of Molenbeek by Belgian police. We are not entirely

sure at this stage who that particular man is that is being

bundled into the back of that car. Let's have another watch now to see

exactly how many men we can see. Local media is reporting that a

third arrest has been made, but we don't know at this stage who that

particular man is. We think now that we can see two

separate men being arrested at this stage. This man being the first

there in the cream, off-white hoodie, that is being put into the

back of that lack faults like an car. Here comes the second now.

Recent speculation is now by local media that there has been a third

arrest. We are awaiting confirmation on that. Let's cross back to the

live pictures now. This is the scene currently as it is in Molenbeek.

Let's go back a couple of hours, referencing those pictures we just

sort of valves arrests. What did you make of them? It is interesting.

They clearly knew what they were doing, the apartments they targeted,

they had good information. The point to bring out is that it all stems

from earlier raid on Tuesday when one man was shot dead and two

managed to escape. It seems that Abdeslam was one of those people.

One we have seen being arrested just now, or the video of it, where from

that apartment in the first rate this week. Clearly the police and

intelligence agency had good information and knew what they were

doing. Thank you for talking to us. Let's speak to a French security

consultant. Thank you very much for patiently waiting to speak to us.

How is this arrest and raid being seen in Paris? They are being seen

as finally, after the fourth try, they have been able to capture

Abdeslam. What is really important to say that he did not try to flee

Belgium, he stayed there. He was hiding, but he was hiding for four

Mons. It is important to look at the support networks, because he could

not have gone undetected for four months a while. Security services

will be looking closely at what is happening in Molenbeek and other

places. On Twitter, congratulations to the Belgian authorities on the

capture of Salah Abdeslam. How much pressure have the Belgian

authorities been under? A lot, from the French first, because obviously

they were close to being ridiculed for having let him go and missed him

three times. There were reports of him being in another district of

Brussels for three weeks undetected. They were under a lot of pressure to

show they were competent and that they would get the job done. It

hasn't just been down to the Belgian authorities, has it? What French

involvement has there been? What has been decided a month ago at the

level of the Prime Minister, between France and Belgium, was open book

cooperation, sharing information for the first time, what we saw on

Tuesday, a joint operation where French forces took part in the raid

in Brussels. That is very telling about how much those two nations

need to work together. That is assigned for the nations in Europe

to look at this and say, if we don't stick together, then all this will

happen time and time again. The state secretary has been tweeting,

we've got him. Clearly, they are very pleased to have him alive. How

important was it, as far as you are aware, that he was taken alive, even

though possibly wounded? Hugely important, because for a lot of

reasons. Unfortunately, we are flying blind, so to have somebody

that actually took part in the planning, the preparation, the

knowledge of all the different networks within Islamic State in

Europe, is huge. What people have to remember, as well, is that,

Abdeslam, compared to the others, got cold feet, and most probably as

we saw through his suicide belt before leaving. He might be more

willing to target than somebody who would have been even more of a

hard-core radical Islamic. His ability to remain in Belgium all

this time since those attacks in November in Paris throws up a great

deal of questions. How surprised are you that he stayed in Europe when

there was speculation that he had fled to Syria? Might take was, I

wouldn't see him go to Syria for one reason only. My reasoning is that,

if he were to rejoin the Islamic State, he would be viewed as someone

that's decided not to go ahead with the operation. His life most

probably have been more at risk in Syria than staying in Belgium. It

would make sense for him to stay in Europe. The question about the

support networks come into play. The money, logistics, people renting the

apartments on his behalf, all this shows that Belgium is the nexus, if

you will, of jihadist terrorism in Europe. But how likely is it that he

has had support from the middle east, from Islamic State in Iraq or

Syria, rather than just in Belgium? I would say that it is unlikely that

after an operation that he took part in and fled, that he would have had

more support from Iraq and Syria. It was the local networks, and that is

what is really worrisome, that this ingrained radical element that I

living in Belgium at the moment and that could help him. We will stop

you there. We really appreciate you sharing your inside with us. We will

speak to you again in a moment. I want to update people if you have

just joined us, you are watching BBC News where we are following this

raid that is still underway. An operation in the district of

Molenbeek in the Belgian capital of Brussels. Stay with us.