Cousin of Brussels Bombers Is Charged With Ties to Terrorist Network<br />The Belgian federal prosecutor’s office released a statement on Friday saying<br />that the suspect, Yassine Atar, 30, had been charged with "terrorist assassinations" and "participation as a leader in the activities of a terrorist group." Mr. Atar, a Belgian of Moroccan ancestry, has been in custody since last year, on suspicion of planning an attack against a "march against fear" in the aftermath of the Brussels bombings, according to his lawyer, Sébastien Courtoy.<br />By MILAN SCHREUERJUNE 2, 2017<br />PARIS — The police in Belgium have charged a cousin of the brothers who set off suicide bombs in Brussels in March 2016 with being part of the terrorist network<br />that planned and carried out those attacks and the attacks in Paris in November 2015.<br />Mr. Atar was also found to have had keys to an apartment on the Rue Henri Bergé 86 in Brussels, which<br />was used by the network to prepare bombs for the Brussels assaults, and possibly the Paris attacks.<br />The march, which was to be held in central Brussels in March 2016, was canceled after the police<br />overheard telephone conversations in which Mr. Atar took part, the authorities said.<br />Nitrogen, an ingredient that has been used in making bombs, was found on Mr. Atar’s hair and his beard, according to Mr. Courtoy.<br />But over the past year, according to police documents, the police have been piecing together Mr. Atar’s role in the network.<br />The apartment also contained bomb-making material, traces of TATP (the substance used in the Paris<br />and the Brussels attacks), numerous cellphones and documents, police files show.
