From "bbcnews"

Brussels terror alert based on fears of 'Paris-style attack'

12 minutes ago
From the sectionEurope
Image copyrightReutersImage captionArmed police and soldiers on the streets of Brussels

Paris attacks
LIVE Paris attacks: Brussels on high alert
Paris attacks: The unanswered questions
Who was Hasna Ait Boulahcen?
Who were the Paris attackers?

Belgian PM Charles Michel says Brussels has been placed on its highest level of terror alert in response to information about the risk of an attack like the one in Paris last week.

The fear was that "several individuals with arms and explosives could launch an attack... perhaps even in several places", Mr Michel said.

Some of the attackers who killed 130 people in Paris lived in Brussels.

Leading suspect Salah Abdeslam is believed to have gone back to Belgium.

He is now the focus of a huge manhunt.

Follow the latest updates

The Brussels metro is closed till Sunday and people have been told to avoid crowds.

These include shopping centres and concerts, and the authorities have also recommended that large events, including football matches, be cancelled, a statement said.Image copyrightAFPImage captionAhmad Dahmani, a Belgian citizen, was arrested in Turkey on suspicion of involvement in the Paris attacks

Jump media player
Media player help

Out of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.Media captionBelgian PM Charles Michel: Belgium 'at risk of attack'

The warning for the rest of Belgium stays at a lower level, which is still at a "serious" level.

The Belgian government will review the security situation in Brussels on Sunday afternoon, Mr Michel added.
At the scene: James Reynolds, BBC News, Brussels

"We are closed, exceptional circumstances" says a sign posted in a shop inside Brussels' Gare du Midi train station. "Be safe."

Armed police officers patrol the station's main concourse. One squad check passengers' bags. Two officers escort away a drunk man who has come in search of cigarettes.

At 12:08, the Eurostar from London arrives. At the gate, a young woman is embraced by her mother who smiles and says she will take her daughter home as quickly as possible in order to stay safe. Passengers also include a group of British men on a stag weekend. They say they did not want to cancel their plans. They head boisterously out into the city.

Along one of the city's main shopping streets, shops are open. Rows of security guards stand at the front doors.

I write these words from a table in a half empty fast-food restaurant. Two well armed soldiers in camouflage uniform are standing a metre away from me just inside the front door.

Belgian game off amid security fears

Belgium's jihadist networks

Interior Minister Jan Jambon earlier told reporters the country's situation was "serious", but "under control", as he arrived for a special security cabinet meeting on Saturday.

A Belgian man of Moroccan descent, Ahmad Dahmani, 26, has been arrested at a luxury hotel in Antalya along with two other terror suspects, Turkish authorities have told the BBC.

He is believed to have been in contact with the suspects who perpetrated the Paris attacks, an official said.Image copyrightEPAImage captionSoldiers have been deployed to beef up security on Brussels' streets

He arrived from Amsterdam on 14 November; there is no record of the Belgian authorities having warned Turkey about him, which is why there was no entry ban, the official said.

The Belgian authorities have so far charged three people with involvement in the attacks, claimed by Islamic State militants.

In Paris, French police have freed seven people arrested during the massive raid on an apartment housing the suspected ringleader, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, prosecutors said according to AFP news agency.

Abdelhamid Abaaoud was killed in the raid in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis.

However, Jawad Bendaoud - who has admitted lending the apartment to two people from Belgium "as a favour", but denied knowing any more - is being held in custody.