Belgian official says machete attacker known for petty crime

By The Associated Press
August 08 2016 02:21 AM

CP1878822691 — Police secure the scene, near the police headquarters in Charleroi, Belgium on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2016. Ôªø Two female officers were attacked and wounded by a man wielding a machete and shouting "Allahu Akhbar" outside a police station in the Belgian city of Charleroi on Saturday, police said. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

BRUSSELS – Belgium’s top migration official says an Algerian man who attacked two policewomen with a machete over the weekend was known to authorities for petty crimes but had not been linked to any terror offences.

Migration State Secretary Theo Francken said Monday that the man, identified by Belgian media as Khaled Babouri, “was not known for terrorist reasons.”

Francken told Belgian Radio 1 that Babouri was “was caught in possession of hashish and other drugs and got a ticket because he switched his bus card with his brother.”

The 33-year-old Algerian, who wounded the two officers at Charleroi city police station on Saturday before being shot dead, had been living illegally in Belgium. He had been twice ordered to leave the country but failed to do so.

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