Belgian Court Sentences 8 over Brussels Terror Attack

The sentencing ended the country's largest-ever criminal trial © JOHN THYS / POOL/AFP
The sentencing ended the country's largest-ever criminal trial © JOHN THYS / POOL/AFP
TT

Belgian Court Sentences 8 over Brussels Terror Attack

The sentencing ended the country's largest-ever criminal trial © JOHN THYS / POOL/AFP
The sentencing ended the country's largest-ever criminal trial © JOHN THYS / POOL/AFP

A Belgian court on Friday handed out sentences ranging up to life in prison to eight men for the 2016 militant bombings in Brussels, ending the country's largest-ever criminal trial.

The suicide bombings on March 22, 2016 at Brussels' main airport and on the metro system killed 32 people and were claimed by ISIS.

French citizen Salah Abdeslam and Belgian-Moroccan Mohamed Abrini -- already sentenced to life in jail by France for a 2015 massacre in Paris -- were the highest-profile of six culprits found guilty of murder in July.

Abrini, who was one of the designated bombers but decided not to blow himself up at the last moment, was given a 30-year jail term.

The court ruled not to give Abdeslam an additional term after he was sentenced in Belgium to 20 years in 2018 over a shootout.

The bombings -- near the headquarters of both NATO and the EU -- were part of a wave of attacks claimed by ISIS in Europe.

Hundreds of travellers and transport staff were maimed and, seven years on many victims, relatives and rescuers remain traumatized by the biggest peacetime attack in Belgium.

Authorities later raised the official death toll from the attacks to 35, after finding a link between the trauma suffered and the later deaths of three more people.

Dozens of wounded survivors and bereaved relatives gave emotional testimony during the months of hearings.

The trial, which started at the end of last year, was held under tight security at the converted former headquarters of the NATO military alliance.

Abdeslam, who turned 34 on Friday, was the sole surviving perpetrator of the 2015 Paris attack that killed 130 people.

He had fled to Brussels after taking part in the Paris attacks and holed up for four months in an apartment hosting members of the local cell.

He was arrested several days before the Brussels bombings took place, but the jury decided he was one of the co-authors of the attack.

A Belgian court turned down a request from the convict to stay in the country to carry out his sentence and he should eventually return to France to serve it.

Abrini was found guilty of being in one of the teams of suicide bombers who targeted Brussels' airport and a metro station.

He testified that he had decided at the last minute not to detonate his explosive at the airport -- as did another defendant, Osama Krayem, a Swede of Syrian descent.

Krayem was handed a life sentence, along with Bilal El Makhoukhi and Oussama Atar.

Atar, a senior commander in ISIS group who headed the militant cell, was tried in absentia because he is presumed to have died in Syria in 2017.

Herve Bayingana Muhirwa, found guilty of "participating in the activities of a terrorist group", was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Tunisian Sofien Ayari, also convicted on that lesser charge, was like Abdeslam not handed additional jail time as the court said sentences in previous cases were sufficient.

The court ruled not to strip any of the convicts of their Belgian nationalities.



France Working on UN Resolution to Restore Freedom of Navigation in Strait of Hormuz

Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 23, 2026. Picture taken through a window. REUTERS/Stringer
Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 23, 2026. Picture taken through a window. REUTERS/Stringer
TT

France Working on UN Resolution to Restore Freedom of Navigation in Strait of Hormuz

Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 23, 2026. Picture taken through a window. REUTERS/Stringer
Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 23, 2026. Picture taken through a window. REUTERS/Stringer

France is working on a draft United Nations Security Council resolution backing freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, a UN diplomat said on Friday.

The resolution would reaffirm the need to respect freedom of navigation in the strait, a flashpoint in the war in Iran, citing its importance for global shipments critical for food and energy security, the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because discussions on the measure have been private.

The proposed UN resolution would recall the need to respect the Law of the Sea and support peaceful initiatives aimed at ensuring safe passage in the strait, the UN diplomat added.

Iran’s disruption of the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas transited before the war, has emerged as its main point of leverage.

The effects have been felt far beyond the Middle East and pose political problems for US President Donald Trump and his Republican Party ahead of November’s midterm congressional elections.

Paris has unsuccessfully attempted in the past to put a resolution together on the subject, but the latest move follows talks between France's President Emmanuel Macron on Monday evening and Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

“Trump and Macron discussed the topic on the sidelines of this week’s annual UN gathering of global leaders,” the diplomat said. It also was discussed with Arab nations and Iran.

After his meeting the ⁠US president at Trump Tower in New York, Macron said: “Several options were discussed. We will be working on diplomatic solutions over the coming hours, which could make it possible, even without a comprehensive agreement, to find ways of allowing more container ships and oil tankers to transit.”


CNN Blocked from Trump Trip on Saturday

CNN Senior Reporter Betsy Klein reports from the White House, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
CNN Senior Reporter Betsy Klein reports from the White House, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
TT

CNN Blocked from Trump Trip on Saturday

CNN Senior Reporter Betsy Klein reports from the White House, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
CNN Senior Reporter Betsy Klein reports from the White House, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

CNN reporters have been barred from traveling with US President Donald Trump as planned on Saturday, in a new move by the White House to limit the news network's access.

The president last week sought to ban three US outlets -- CNN, MS NOW and Politico -- from the White House, accusing them of providing only negative coverage on him.

After journalists with the three outlets were blocked from entering the White House complex, a judge ordered their access to be temporarily restored, saying Trump's move was likely unconstitutional.

For Trump's trip on Saturday to Tennessee, CNN had been scheduled to be the TV network in the press "pool" traveling with him.

However, a schedule released by the White House on Friday evening did not list CNN or any of the TV networks in the TV pool rotation.

The pool is a rotating group of journalists that travel with the president and provide coverage to other outlets, due to limited space.

The White House schedule only listed a "Secondary TV" correspondent and crew: Lindell TV -- a staunchly pro-Trump outlet run by his close ally, businessman Mike Lindell.

Earlier this week, when CNN's White House access was still revoked, the top five US broadcasters made a rare joint move to halt pool coverage of the White House in solidarity.

"The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting," ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox and NBC said.

CNN declined to comment when reached Friday by AFP. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.


Iran Proposes Hormuz Plan, Trump Reportedly Refuses

A motorist rides a scooter near a giant billboard erected on the facade of a building depicting a member of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) placing his foot on a US sea drone, reportedly seized by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, in Vanak Square in Tehran on September 24, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
A motorist rides a scooter near a giant billboard erected on the facade of a building depicting a member of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) placing his foot on a US sea drone, reportedly seized by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, in Vanak Square in Tehran on September 24, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
TT

Iran Proposes Hormuz Plan, Trump Reportedly Refuses

A motorist rides a scooter near a giant billboard erected on the facade of a building depicting a member of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) placing his foot on a US sea drone, reportedly seized by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, in Vanak Square in Tehran on September 24, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
A motorist rides a scooter near a giant billboard erected on the facade of a building depicting a member of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) placing his foot on a US sea drone, reportedly seized by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, in Vanak Square in Tehran on September 24, 2026. (Photo by AFP)

Iran offered a plan to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz, Tehran said Friday, but within hours reports indicated that US President Donald Trump rejected the proposal.

The waterway key to the world's oil supply is central to the conflict between the United States and Iran, which is at a stalemate after nearly seven months.

But new mediation efforts at the UN's gathering of world leaders in New York this week offered some optimism of progress toward a deal.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met for talks on Tuesday with Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff, and previously set out conditions for ending the war and reopening the vital shipping channel.

"Iran has conveyed to the United States, through Qatar, a concrete seven-day plan. If the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened, and normal maritime passage restored within seven days," Araghchi said at the UN, according to AFP.

"The choice now rests with the United States. Iran does not accept coercion, threats, or intimidation, and Iran will not surrender its sovereign rights under pressure.

However, with hours of his comments The Wall Street Journal reported Trump had rejected the proposal, citing US officials familiar with the matter.

The report noted that the US president was skeptical Tehran would meet his demands and added he sees a renewed bombing campaign as likely.

Trump also posted an image to his Truth Social platform of a map showing the Strait of Hormuz circled and labelled "Trump Strait."

Earlier media reports suggested the new plan calls for a cessation of all hostilities in the Middle East for seven days, including in Lebanon.

It also reportedly calls for the release of frozen Iranian assets estimated to be worth at least $12 billion, as well as the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil and an end to the US naval blockade of Iran.

On the seventh day of the truce, Iran would reopen Hormuz.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an interview with broadcaster CBS that the ceasefire "process will begin from the very day they accept it."

"We had previously reached an agreement based on the MOU that was signed in Pakistan...if the United States agrees to proceed in that way, everything will return to the way it was before," he added.

Hossein Mohebi, a spokesman for the Revolutionary Guards, told AFP in an exclusive interview on Tuesday that ending hostilities in Yemen was also among Tehran's demands.

The US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding in June that aimed to end the war, reopen the strait and launch talks on Iran's nuclear program.

But the deal broke down shortly afterward when Iran fired on commercial ships in Hormuz that it accused of deviating from its approved route through the waterway.

Iran requires ships to obtain authorization before passage, citing security and sovereignty reasons.

Ships that refuse to comply are regularly targeted, while the United States sporadically bombs Iranian coastal areas in retaliation.