Officials have persuaded organizers in Brussels to cancel a “March Against Fear” solidarity rally Saturday following the brutal bombings of the international airport and metro station in the Belgian capital.
The march was designed to show that Belgian citizens are refusing to be cowed by acts of terror.
“The first reaction in such events is to withdraw but on reflection, fear must give way to hope and the defence of our values,” the organizers said.
That defense will have to wait.
The reason for the recommendation to cancel, according to Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambron, is because there simply aren’t enough police to go around. And for now, the priority is clearly the investigation of the bombings, which killed 31 and injured well over 200 people, as opposed to providing a large security presence for the rally, Deutsche Welle reports.
Organizers complied with the request without opposition and postponed the Sunday march.
“We understand this request. The security of our citizens is an absolute priority. We join the authorities in proposing a delay and ask people not to come this Sunday,” the organizers said, according to AFP.
The march is likely to be postponed for at least several weeks until Belgian authorities can get a full handle on the tumultuous situation.
Security services in Belgium have been working unceasingly since the Tuesday attacks to crush not just the terror cells directly involved in the atrocities, but other known terror networks, as well. Prosecutors charged three men Saturday for terror involvement, and one of those arrested apparently was involved in the planning of the event.
Since the attacks, officials of European Union member states have called for better intelligence sharing. But lack of intelligence sharing does not appear to be the culprit, the reason why Belgian authorities did not perform a better job preventing the bombings.
Belgian officials admitted Thursday they should have acted upon intelligence received from Turkey regarding the threat posed by Ibrahim el-Bakraoui. Turkish authorities arrested Bakraoui for suspected terrorist activity, but Belgian authorities ignored the intelligence and essentially let him roam free, declining to confirm any terror links and ignoring all warnings. Bakraoui was one of the suicide bombers in the Tuesday attacks.
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