Citing ‘imminent’ threat, Belgium extends high alert

BRUSSELS — Citing a “serious and imminent” threat of attack, Belgium’s prime minister announced on Monday that Brussels will remain at the highest alert level for at least another week, maintaining security measures that have severely disrupted normal life in the capital.

In France, police said an explosive vest without a detonator was found by a street cleaner in a pile of rubble in the southern Paris suburb of Montrouge and was being analyzed by investigators. A police official said the vest contained bolts and the same type of explosives as those used in the Nov. 13 Paris attack that claimed 130 lives and left hundreds wounded.

The device was found on Monday in the same area where a cellphone belonging to fugitive suspect Salah Abdeslam was pinpointed by geolocalization on the day of the Paris attack, two police officials said.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said Brussels, which houses the headquarters of the European Union and NATO, faced a “serious and imminent” threat that required keeping the city at the highest alert level, while the rest of the

country would stay at the second-highest level.

The increased security measures in the wake of the Nov. 13 massacre in Paris have virtually shut down the Belgian capital, with the subway system, many shops and schools remaining shut on Monday.

Michel said that despite the continued high alert level, schools would reopen on Wednesday, with parts of the subway system beginning to operate the same day. He did not say when the system would be completely online again.

“We are very alert and call for caution,” Michel said. “The potential targets remain the same; shopping centers and shopping streets and public transport.”

“We want to return to a normal way of life as quickly as possible,” he added.

The unprecedented security measures come as authorities hunt for suspected extremists, including Abdeslam.

Belgian authorities have not announced any details of their investigation into potential attacks nor have they released any information about four suspects who have been arrested and charged with terrorismrelated offenses.

These include one suspect who was arrested as part of a sweep that saw 21 people detained since Sunday night. Fifteen have since been released.

Earlier on Monday, British Prime Minister David Cameron said during a visit to Paris that he would seek parliamentary

ALASTAIR GRANT ASSOCIATED PRESS A waiter in a restaurant in the central square of Brussels has only one customer to serve on a terrace. Security measures put into place over the weekend have disrupted life in the Belgian capital. They were extended for another week on Monday.

MICHEL SPINGLER ASSOCIATED PRESS In northern France, a French soldier guards the border with Belgium.