Dutch police arrest 2nd man over Rotterdam attack threat
The 22-year-old man was arrested during police raids in the southern province of Brabant early on Thursday and was being questioned about the Rotterdam attack threat, the police said.
The arrest comes after police detained a Spanish driver on Wednesday night who was found near the concert venue with gas canisters in his van. He turned out to be a mechanic stopped for drunk driving with no apparent connection to the threat, although he was still being questioned on Thursday.
“The investigation is ongoing and we are questioning the man,” police spokesman Gijs van Nimwegen said. “We are working to determine his identity.”
Spanish police had tipped off the Dutch to potential danger at the Maassilo concert venue in Rotterdam where California band Allah-Las was set to play. The concert was canceled at around 7 pm, shortly before doors were to be opened for guests.
A judicial source in Spain said there was, however, no link to the vehicle attacks that killed 15 people in Spain last week where police also discovered a plot to make a powerful bomb out of gas canisters.
Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb told a news conference late Wednesday that it was also not clear whether the threat tip and the detection of the van were connected. He warned against “swift conclusions” while noting the white van had Spanish license plates and had been flagged for circling near the concert venue.
“It would be wrong at this moment to pile up these facts and conclude ... there was a plan to attack with gas bottles,” Aboutaleb said.
Spanish news agency Europa Press, quoting Spanish anti-terrorist force sources, reported that the Spaniard arrested in Rotterdam had, in principle, no link to militant terrorism. The gas canisters in his vehicle were apparently for domestic use, it said.
Police said the concert was canceled at around 7 pm, shortly before doors were to be opened for guests. No one was hurt and only one suspect was in custody, Dutch police said.
The National Coordinator for Security and Counter-terrorism’s office said the threat level in the Netherlands was unchanged at “substantial”, where it has been since 2013.
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