Brussels (dpa) - One of two people arrested in Belgium after investigators uncovered plans for terrorist attacks on New Year‘s Eve has rejected the charges against him, Belga news agency reported Wednesday, citing the suspect‘s lawyer.Belgium has been on high alert since the November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris, as several of the perpetrators had links to the country.The alleged plot targeting "emblematic sites" in Brussels during year-end celebrations is not linked to the Paris attacks, state prosecutors said Tuesday.One of the men, identified by local media as Said S, is charged with participating in the activities of a terrorist group as a leader, recruiting with a view to commit terrorist acts as a perpetrator or accomplice, and being implicated in the threat of an attack.The other, identified by Belgian media as Mohamed K, faces charges of participating in the activities of a terrorist group as a perpetrator or accomplice and being implicated in the threat of an attack.Xavier Carrette, the lawyer for Mohamed K, said his client is "not radicalized" and has no legal precedent, according to Belga.One of the men was found to be in possession of propaganda material from the Islamic State extremist group, as well as materials used for airsoft, a combat simulation activity involving replica firearms, the RTBF broadcaster wrote.The two suspects, both from the Brussels suburb of Anderlecht, were members of the Kamikaze Riders motorbike group, RTBF and other media reported.Said S was considered the club‘s leader and recruiter and was also known as a radical preacher, according to RTBF.A member of the club, Ludovic Ansel, expressed surprise Wednesday over the men‘s arrest."Both were certainly deeply [involved] in their religion, but they never made an extremist gesture or word. I never witnessed Islamist propaganda on their part," Ansel said, according to Belga.The Kamikaze Riders club brought together motorbike fanatics of all origins and beliefs, he added, lamenting the fact that the club‘s name was being sullied by the media.Later Wednesday, Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur, was expected to decide whether the city‘s New Year‘s festivities would still go ahead. He was awaiting a new assessment of the terrorist threat level, according to RTBF.Belgium‘s coordinating unit for threat analysis, OCAM, has so far maintained the threat level across the country at 3, signalling a serious, but not imminent threat.Brussels went into security lockdown for several days after last month‘s Paris attacks, following indications that similar actions were being planned in the Belgian capital.Police conducted searches at two sites in the Brussels neighbourhood of Molenbeek on Wednesday, RTBF wrote, citing prosecution sources. One was linked to the Paris attacks, whose mastermind had lived in the area.Also Wednesday, Belgian police appealed to the public for help in tracking down four former members of the Sharia4Belgium terrorist organization in a separate investigation.The men were all tried in absentia and given prison sentences in February, during a huge court case against the Islamist group in the Belgian city of Antwerp. Three of them had also been active members of radical militant groups in Syria, according to the police.Belgium has Europe‘s highest number, relative to population size, of foreign fighters who have joined extremist groups in Syria or Iraq.
