Security scare clears EU Parliament offices

The public prosecutor's office in Brussels said on Monday that police had approached the man, who was dressed in camouflage gear, after he was observed acting in what was deemed to be a suspicious manner near several of the European Parliament's administrative offices.

A statement released by the prosecutor's office said that when police asked him about his intentions, he "said that he wanted to meet the president of the parliament."

Police then sealed off an area around the Slovakian man's parked car and hundreds of people were evacuated from the Parliamentary offices as a precaution.

While a search of his car turned up no explosives, police did find a firearm and a chainsaw.

When it was clear that the vehicle posed no risk, people were allowed to return to the evacuated buildings.

Prosecutors said at no point did the man act aggressively and a judge would have to decide on Tuesday whether he would face charges of "threatening an attack, possession of an illegal weapon and unauthorized possession of a firearm requiring a license."

Heightened security

The incident as Belgium remained on high alert since mid-January, when police carried out a series of raids in the eastern city of Verviers, Brussels and other towns on information that a terrorist cell was on the verge of launching an attack. In the Verviers raids, two men were shot dead by police after they opened fire on them as they tried to enter a residence.

pfd/rc (Reuters, AP, dpa)