The 32-year-old French national arrested in Rotterdam on Sunday has links to a terrorist network which played a key role in the Paris and Brussels attacks, according to broadcaster Nos.

Anis B was arrested on behalf of the French authorities with three Algerian nationals after leaving his home in the west of Rotterdam. Police who searched the property also found ammunition, telephones, sim cards, money and drugs, broadcaster RTL news says.

The Zerkani network would appear to be based in Belgium but is an ‘international network which also has links to Rotterdam’, Nos reporter Nicole le Fever said. The network has been named after its alleged leader Khalid Zerkani who comes from Molenbeek in Belgium and was jailed for 12 years last year for recruiting jihadis.

That trial also involved Reda Kriket, who was sentenced to 10 years in jail in absentia. He and Anis B are said to have travelled to Syria together, Nos says. A third man jailed in absentia was Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who was shot dead during the Paris attacks.

‘We know that European security services have a list of eight names of men connected to this network,’ Le Fever said. Those other men are now being sought.

Neighbours told the Telegraaf that ‘Algerians’ had lived in the Rotterdam apartment for several years and that they kept very much to themselves. ‘I got a bad vibe from him,’ one local told the paper. ‘If I got in the lift, he took the stairs. And once when I was wearing a skirt, he spat on the ground next to me.’

Praise

Meanwhile, Rotterdam mayor Achmed Aboutaleb has praised the police action surrounding the arrest. ‘The starting point was not to arrest the person at his home using violence because that would have had consequences for his neighbours,’ the mayor told the AD on Tuesday.

‘The arrest unit wanted to pick him up on the street. And that is what happened, together with three others. No shots were fired. From the security service to the police, it was all done by the book.’

Aboutaleb said he could not rule out there being a Rotterdam link to the terrorist attacks in France and that the public prosecution department is now investigating.

‘Our approach, with beat police officers who know what is going on, works well,’ he said. ‘The basics are well covered but that is no guarantee that you miss something. Locals have to be prepared to share information with us. That means mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters who notice things that don’t add up.’

Starbucks

Security expert and Radboud University professor Ira Helsloot told Radio 1 news on Monday that intelligence is key. ‘The answer is not to put everyone who is suspected of having radicalised views on a watch list but to use police officers who know their neighbourhood and other sources,’ Helsloot said.

In addition, extra security patrols at airports and stations do nothing to deter terrorist attacks, he said.

Instead, terrorists will simply shift their attention to other locations. ‘Then you don’t attack Zaventum or Schiphol but move to the Starbucks next door. In the end you are in the tiniest cafe. It is not a race you can win,’ he told the broadcaster.