Suspect detained in Dutch concert threat

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands - Dutch police investigating a terror threat that prompted the cancellation of a concert by a US rock band in Rotterdam arrested a 22-year-old man in the early hours of Thursday.

Spokesman Roland Ekkers said the man was detained by a team in the province of Brabant, a sprawling region south of Rotterdam. The exact location of the man's detention was not immediately released.

Los Angeles band Allah-Las called off its concert in Rotterdam on Wednesday after Spanish authorities tipped Dutch police about a possible threat to the show.

The suspect was "in custody and will be questioned about the threat in Rotterdam", police said in a statement, adding that they conducted a thorough search of his home. Dutch police do not generally release identities or other details of suspects in criminal investigations.

Meanwhile, police said the driver of a Spain-registered white van carrying a number of gas canisters that was stopped at Wednesday night close to the Maassilo concert venue is unlikely to be a suspect in the threat probe.

In a statement, police said the man, who was detained soon after the concert was called off, was possibly drunk and will be questioned later on Thursday.

Explosives experts checked his van and found nothing suspicious beyond the gas canisters, according to the police statement.

A search of the man's home "uncovered no link with the terror threat ... at the Maassilo," police said. "The man, a repair man, had an explanation for the gas canisters that will be investigated today."

Dutch Counterterror Coordinator Dick Schoof commended the police action on Twitter, saying it was "alert, appropriate for the current threat level".

It was not clear what the nature of the threat to the concert was, or if the band's name played any role in the threat.

Ap - Afp - Reuters

(China Daily 08/25/2017 page12)