Belgium: Terrorism ruled out as motive for Liege rampage

PROSECUTORS have revealed that the man who went on a gun and grenade rampage in the Belgian city of Liege, which left more than 100 injured and five dead including the killer, had been called in for questioning by police in a sexual abuse case.

Nordine Amrani, 33, swept through a Christmas market on Tuesday, killing three people and wounding at least 123 before shooting himself in the forehead. When he was found, he was still carrying unused grenades.

After the shooting, police went to his home and found he had murdered his cleaner, a woman in her 40s, in a shed which he used to grow cannabis, before setting out on the massacre.

Two teenage boys, aged 15 and 17, died in the market assault, while an 18-month-old toddler died later in hospital.

A 75-year-old woman suffered life-threatening injuries. She was one of five people in a critical condition in hospital last night.

Amrani, who had previously been jailed for offences involving guns and drugs, had been called in for questioning by police in a sexual abuse case. Amrani’s lawyer said he had been scared of being sent back to jail.

“He was extremely nervous,” Jeann-Francois Dister said. “He was impulsive, but what he did was unbelievable.”

Officials said he left his Liege home with a backpack, armed with hand grenades, a revolver and an assault rifle.

He walked alone to a busy central square, then got on to a platform that gave him an ideal view of the area below, which was bedecked with a huge Christmas tree and crowded with shoppers.

From there, he lobbed three hand grenades towards a busy bus shelter. The explosions sent shards of glass from the shelter across a wide area.

He then opened fire on the crowd. Hundreds fled the square and a nearby Christmas market in panic.

Liege prosecutor Daniele Reynders said they had ruled out terrorism after searches of Amrani’s house.

“I completely exclude that any element in our investigation points towards the acts committed being of a terrorist nature,” she said.

Ms Reynders described how police officers entered the shed near Amrani’s home and found his first victim.

“It was a cleaning lady,” said Ms Reynders. “This is how she met him yesterday morning. She dies, shot with a bullet in the head.”

In Liege, Belgium’s third biggest city, people were shocked and sombre yesterday, with Christmas celebrations brought to a crashing halt.

Mystery continues to surround the motive behind Amrani’s bloody rampage.

The Christmas market’s Ferris wheel has started turning again, but no-one expected the festive spirit to return.

“The crowds won’t show up,” said Francoise Robert, selling miniature castles and Christmas items. “People are scared.”

At the outdoor bus depot that Amrani attacked, a long parade of people paid tribute to the victims. Young women cried and families lit candles, while shards of glass littered the pavement. “Warum [why]?” asked one card, surrounded by toys, flowers and candles.

Adelie Miguel, a 48-year-old resident of Spanish descent, placed a bouquet of white tulips against the shattered bus stop.

“We are all Liegeois, united in suffering,” she said. “This was an act of a sick man.”

Ms Reynders said 40 people had to be treated for psycho-logical trauma.

In the capital, Brussels, the government pledged to toughen the gun law and put stricter controls on multiple offenders on conditional release.

Prime minister Elio Di Rupo said the attack was the act of a lone assailant, a man known to police but who had no links to terrorism.

“The whole country shares in the pain,” he said. “This is an isolated case. This is not about terrorism.”

Herman Van Rompuy, a former Belgian prime minister who is now president of the European Council, said: “There is no explanation whatsoever.