BRUSSELS — Authorities will keep the Belgian capital on the highest state of alert into Monday's start of the workweek because of the "serious and imminent" threat of a Paris-style attack, the prime minister said.
Schools and universities in Brussels will be closed, and the city's subway will remain shut down, government officials decided at a meeting Sunday of the country's National Security Council.
With one suspect in the Nov. 13 attacks in France last seen crossing into Belgium, officials in Brussels kept much of the city shut down during the weekend. Officials also recommended that sports competitions and all activities in public buildings be cancelled, and malls and commercial centers closed.
"We fear an attack like in Paris, with several individuals, perhaps in several places," said Prime Minister Charles Michel, who chaired the meeting. Brussels was put on Level 4, the highest state of alert, while the rest of Belgium was on Level 3.
Belgian Interior minister Jan Jambon said several suspects tied to the Paris attacks were thought to be at large and that the threat wouldn't necessarily disappear if Salah Abdeslam — who is believed to have played a key role in the attacks — was found.
In France, meanwhile, police issued a new appeal to identify the third attacker who was killed in the attacks at the national stadium in Paris. They posted a photo of the man on Twitter, appealing to the public for information that would help identify him.
Western leaders stepped up the rhetoric against the Islamic State group, which has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Paris that killed 130 people and wounded hundreds more; the suicide bombings in Beirut that killed 43 people and injured more than 200; and the downing of the Russian airline carrying 224 people in Sinai. All happened within the past month.
Speaking from Kuala Lumpur, President Barack Obama said the world would not accept the extremists' attacks on civilians as the "new normal," and vowed the United States and its international partners would not relent in the fight against the Islamic militants.
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said IS must be destroyed at all costs.
"We must annihilate Islamic State worldwide ... and we must destroy Islamic State on its own territory," Le Drian said. "That's the only possible direction."
France has intensified its aerial bombing in Syria and Le Drian said French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, which has been sent to help operations against IS militants in Syria, will be "operational" from Monday and "ready to act."
