PM REJECTS ‘WEAK LINK’ ACCUSATION

BRUSSELS Belgium’s prime minister acknowledged Wednesday that the country has made mistakes in combating violent extremism but rejected the notion that it has become Europe’s weakest link in efforts to eradicate the threat.

“In the fight against terrorism, in all countries in the world and in Europe, there have been successes and there have been failures,” Prime Minister Charles Michel, pictured, said.

Belgium has succeeded in preventing many attacks, he said, and in 2015 alone successfully prosecuted scores of people on terrorism-related charges. “If we were weak, then we would not have been able to convict 100 persons,” he said.

Michel was delivering what he called the “key message” that following the disruption caused by suicide bombings at Brussels Airport and in the capital’s subway, “today we return to normal life in Brussels and Belgium.”

Thirty-two people, plus three bombers, died in the attacks, which were claimed by the Islamic State group.

Belgian investigators took more than four months to find and arrest key Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam.

“Some said you need so many months, it is too man y,” Michel said. But he noted it took nearly 10 years for the U.S. to track down and kill Osama bin Laden following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. that killed nearly 3,000.