Anti-Islamic State protesters disrupt memorial site at Brussels square
Police use a water cannon as demonstrators protest at a memorial site at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels on Sunday.
Reporting from BRUSSELS — A Brussels square that has been a memorial site turned agitated Sunday when black-clad men started shouting slogans and carrying a banner with an expletive against the Islamic State group.
Hundreds of people were remembering the 31 victims of Tuesday’s attacks when dozens of men, some in balaklavas and masks, barged to the center of Place de la Bourse and mounted the steps of the stock exchange building.
Riot squads joined plainclothes policemen to move the protesters away from the square. A water cannon sprayed the protesters.
Full Coverage: Terrorist attacks in Brussels >>
The anti-Islamic State rally came despite government appeals not to hold a “march against fear” Sunday in Brussels since the security forces were stretched too thinly to provide security.
Earlier Sunday, Belgian police conducted raids in Brussels and two other Belgian cities and kept four of the people they picked up under detention.
The federal prosecutor’s office says the raids are linked a “federal case regarding terrorism” but did not specify whether it had anything to do with last week’s attacks.
The 13 raids in Brussels and the northern cities of Mechelen and Duffel came early Sunday. An investigating judge will decide later Sunday whether the four new suspects will remain in custody. Five others were released after questioning.
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