Van find sparks terror fear

DUTCH police are investigating possible terror links after arresting a Spaniard driving a van containing gas canisters close to a rock concert that was abruptly cancelled over fears of an attack.

The man “was arrested and taken to the police station”, Rotterdam police said in a Tweet after a tip-off from Spanish authorities.

The arrest came a week after 15 people died in twin vehicle attacks in Spain for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility.

Dutch bomb squad officials were investigating the van, which was found just two streets from the Maassilo concert hall where a US rock band was due to play, police said.

Earlier, Dutch authorities decided to cancel the concert by Californian group Allah-Las in Europe’s largest port city after a tip-off from Spanish police about a possible terror attack.

“I was warned by telephone that we had received a threat, which had implications for an American concert at the Maassilo in Rotterdam,” Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb said.

“This signal came from the Spanish police to the Dutch police.”

Mr Aboutaleb, the country’s first Muslim and immigrant-born mayor who has spoken out against Islamic terror groups, said an investigation was under way and “we cannot say now if the van with the canisters was linked to the threat”.

The four-piece band from Los Angeles was escorted from the concert hall by police in bulletproof vests.

Band members 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”.

Rotterdam police said that afterwards an officer “stationed close to the venue decided to stop a van that he saw driving”.

“The van had Spanish plates and was driven by a Spanish national,” police said. “Inside the van were a couple of gas bottles. Whether there is a link with the terror threat is being looked into.”

Police said the driver was taken into custody.

The Netherlands has so far been spared from the slew of terror attacks that have rocked its closest European neighbours in recent years.