Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
DUTCH POLICE HAVE stepped up a probe into a possible terror threat, arresting another man after cancelling a Rotterdam concert by a US rock group following a tip-off from Spanish authorities.
The 22-year-old was arrested in a pre-dawn raid on a house in the Brabant region, where there was “also an extensive search,” police said in a statement, adding that the driver of a van with Spanish plates held late last night also remained in custody.
The arrests come after twin vehicle attacks in Spain last week killed 15 people, and were claimed by the so-called Islamic State group.
“A 22-year-old man from Brabant was arrested Thursday morning in the investigation into a terrorist threat Wednesday evening in Rotterdam,” Dutch police said in a statement.
It was the second arrest after the van driver was held late last night in Rotterdam, only hours after officials cancelled a concert planned by Californian rock group Allah-Las.
The driver, who “appeared to be under the influence of an alcoholic substance, was detained and transferred to a police facility” yesterday, police said, adding that officers had found a “couple of gas canisters” in his van.
The driver, who police said was a mechanic, will be interviewed again today.
But Dutch authorities have cautioned there may be no link between the van driver and the terror tip-off from Spanish police.
Witness Usama Mohamed told AFP he had watched events unfold close to the Maassilo concert hall, after the van was spotted in a nearby street.
“What I saw was a vehicle with lots of gas cylinders inside,” Mohamed said.
“After what happened in Barcelona, I think the police really took the situation seriously and didn’t want to take any risks in Rotterdam.”
Spanish police had carried out new raids yesterday after vehicles ploughed into pedestrians on Barcelona’s busy Las Ramblas boulevard and a seaside promenade in the resort town of Cambrils last week.
Yesterday Dutch authorities decided to cancel the Allah-Las concert after a tip-off from Spanish police around 5.30pm (4.30pm Irish time).
“I was warned by telephone that we had received a threat which had implications for an American concert at the Maassilo in Rotterdam,” the city’s mayor, Ahmed Aboutaleb, told reporters.
“This signal came from the Spanish police to the Dutch police.”
‘Holy sounding’ name
The four-piece band, from Los Angeles, was escorted from the concert hall by police wearing bullet-proof vests.
In a statement sent to AFP, they said they were “unharmed and are very grateful to the Rotterdam police and other responsible agencies for detecting the potential threat before anyone was hurt”.
The electic band refused to comment further. In an interview with the British daily The Guardian last year, they said they receive emails from Muslims offended by their name, but “that absolutely wasn’t our intention”.
They said they chose to use Allah – Arabic for god – because they wanted something “holy sounding”.
We’ve had the name so long I don’t think we can change it. That wouldn’t work.
The Netherlands has so far been spared from the slew of terror strikes which have rocked its closest European neighbours in the past few years.
But in the face of a number of scares in recent months, and reports that people linked to some of the attacks in Europe may have crossed briefly into the country, concerned top Dutch security and intelligence officials have been keeping a wary eye on events.
In June, a Dutch man – known to authorities as being possibly radicalised – was arrested filming outside one of the country’s largest stadiums during a concert. He was later freed, but the incident is still under investigation.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
I’m voting Sinn Féin. And just to debunk the myth about SF voters, I started work at 6am.
@Ebeneezer Goode: not many thumbs up yet Eb, you’re mates will boost the thumbs in about 6 hours, don’t worry!
@Wheresmyjumper: you sound desperate, don’t panic FFG are sinking and you can’t do anything
@Ebeneezer Goode: I’m going to give them a vote this time too. I start at 9 but get up at 6.20 to commute. I would love a family sized apartment near the city instead of a house in the suburbs so I had more free time. I wish our city was planned like a real city.
@Ebeneezer Goode: started work at 6am and commenting on the journal by 6:51am. Your productivity levels must through the roof……
@Ebeneezer Goode: me to on botha counts. I’m voting Sinn Feinn because I think we will get a big global shock financially that will damage our economy. If and when that happens I want a party in government that will prioritise the protection of our society over the gains of global market gamblers.
Fine Gael, Fianna Fail, Labour & The Greens sold us all out for higher interests.
The real shadowy figures.
Never again should we have people in power who will let the destruction that was unfolded on people’s lives here happen while at the same time paying out on market gambling debts of the mega rich.
@Ebeneezer Goode: Same , though I started work at 8am, I had to leave home at 5am. This is because despite the fact I have a well paid job, due to the housing issues FF and FG have done nothing about for my entire lifetime I can not afford to live in Dublin even though I work here… At this stage I will take any change from being governed by FF/FG!
@Ebeneezer Goode: Im voting SF and never got job seeker benefit in my life, the only party who acknowledges low earners….
I’m voting for change .
I’m voting SF.
@Willy Mc Entire: we know. You keep saying. Feel free to explain why they’d change anything.
@Willy Mc Entire:
we know. Is it shinnerbot policy to post this on every article… if you repeat it at nauseam you will get traction and brainwash a few dopes.
Hopefully they pay you well for it, otherwise please get a life and stop posting the same thing over and over. Anyone with a brain will not be influenced by this nonsense.
@Goban Saor: probably because they are not a party of pocket stuffing parasites like FFG are?
@Gus Sheridan: just beholden to a bunch of ex-terrorists and criminals from Belfast.
All politicians want is your vote and when they get in they will do sweet f all for you. They are all the same
@David O Brien: exactly I don’t know why people get so worked up about voting for people who only pretend to care for them
I’m more worried about how much they’ve spent of leaflets. I can hardly open the front door some evenings with the amount of rubbish that has accumulated during the day.
@Σ ΛΛ ΛΛ Θ: collect all the leaflets for each party
Separate them and address them to the parties concerned in an envelope
Post it without any stamp
Let them pay the postage!
If enough people do the same it might just sink in we don’t want their litter
Michael Healy Rae is brilliant. I’d vote for him if I could.
@John Considine: why can’t you…
@John Considine: He’s good entertainment value, a bit like Willie O’Dea. But that’s about as far as it goes.
Any one see michael healy rae on the news last night with the young convicted thug behind him.
I’m voting for Sinn Fein. 220 bucks a week on the dole, how am i suppose to survive on that. I want those on the high income to pay more tax to support people like us who don’t work.
@Daithi De Roiste: you sad person….
@Peter donnelly: I’m very sad, and hungry!
I don’t even particularly think their candidate in my constituency is any good, but nearly sure that SF will get my No1.
If you see an advert by FF/FG on Facebook just report it as “misleading/scam” and if enough do it, they will remove it !
I would genuinely be worried about my job if sinn fein got in. I work in a multinational and if sinn fein got in they would tax them much higher.
Not happy with ff and fg but sinn fein are too extreme.
have your say