Belgium is taking back control of the Grand Mosque of Brussels by terminating Saudi Arabia’s lease of the building with immediate effect over concerns it promotes radicalism, the government said on Friday.

The announcement is Belgium’s first official confirmation of the move which comes after months of behind the scenes diplomacy to prevent any fall-out with Saudi Arabia, as reported by Reuters in February.

Concerns over Brussels’ biggest mosque, located near the European Union’s headquarters, surfaced after Islamist militants who plotted their assault in Brussels killed 130 people in Paris in 2015, and 32 in the Belgian capital in 2016.

Friday’s decision breaks Saudi Arabia’s unusual 99-year, rent free use of the building, the government said.

“The concession will be terminated immediately … in order to put an end to foreign interference in the way Islam is taught in Belgium,” the Belgian government said in a statement.

Belgium leased the Grand Mosque to Riyadh in 1969, giving Saudi-backed imams access to a growing Muslim immigrant community, mostly from Morocco and Turkey, in return for cheaper oil for its industry.

It has been run by the Mecca-based Muslim World League (MWL), a missionary society mainly funded by Saudi Arabia. The MWL denies it espouses violence.

Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon tweeted of Friday’s announcement that “in this way we are tackling Salafist, violent extremist influences.”

Riyadh’s quick acceptance of Brussels’ request to relinquish the lease reflects a new readiness by the kingdom to promote a more moderate form of Islam – one of the more ambitious promises made by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman under plans to transform Saudi Arabia and reduce its reliance on oil.

The handover of the mosque coincides with a new Saudi initiative, not publicly announced but described to Reuters by Western officials, to end support for mosques and religious schools abroad blamed for spreading radical ideas.

Justice Minister Koen Geens said the sprawling complex will instead house the offices of the Muslim Executive of Belgium, an official body which represents Muslim communities across the country.

The mosque will have to register as a place of worship, he said.

Geens and other Belgian leaders couched the move as a way to promote a “European Islam” better aligned with their values – a familiar refrain across Europe following recent Islamic State attacks.

“From now on, the mosque will have to establish a lasting relation with the Belgian authorities, while respecting the laws and the traditions of our country, which convey a tolerant vision of Islam,” Geens said.

In what he described as a way to promote more “diversity and transparency” within the mosque’s Muslim community, he said it should train imams and display a cultural exhibit on “the achievements of the Muslim civilisation”.

This move comes at a time when Islam is being discussed at Governmental levels in various countries. Faith Matters recently highlighted such a discussion in Germany.

Belgian security sources have told Reuters that the Muslim Executive of Belgium is close to the Moroccan government, with which Belgium has strong intelligence ties.

Belgium’s federal prosecutor said a man held since November in connection with the Nov. 13 Paris attacks would be released on Friday under strict conditions.

Abdellah C, a 35-year-old Belgian national, accompanied one of the Paris attacks suspects, Mohamed Abrini, to the airport when the latter left to fight in Syria, state broadcaster RTBF reported.

His lawyer told Reuters he denied any involvement.

 (Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; editing by Barbara Lewis) – Reuters News

Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in November’s Paris attacks, will be extradited to France from Belgium in a few weeks to allow for additional questioning by Belgian investigators, his lawyer said on Thursday.

Abdeslam, who returned from Paris hours after the Islamic State attacks in which his brother blew himself up, hid from police for four months until he was captured in a raid on a house in the Brussels district of Molenbeek on March 18.

His finger prints were found three days earlier in an apartment in the southern Brussels borough of Forest after a gunbattle  during which an Islamist gunman was shot dead and four police officers were injured.

Prosecutors want to question him about that incident, his lawyer said. “There is a hearing, which will take place regarding the attempted murder of several police officers during the home search in Forest,” Sven Mary told reporters.

Abdeslam, who previously said that he wanted to be extradited to France, was not present at a court hearing in Brussels on Thursday.

“As I said, he wishes to go to France and that is the reason that things need to proceed and why we hope that it will be over in a few weeks,” Mary added.

The shooting and bombing rampage by Islamic State militants killed 130 people in Paris on Nov. 13.

(Reporting by Jan Vermeylen; Writing by Robert-Jan Bartunek; Editing by Philip Blenkinsop/Mark Heinrich) – for Reuters

The latest video from Daesh or the so-called Islamic State shows a range of threats against European capitals with a narration that highlights landmarks in London, Paris and Rome. In one of the scenes, the Eiffel Tower is seen to be toppling over and the view promoted is that the capitals of Europe are not safe.

In another frame, lettering referring to Belgium is seen to crumble apart in the video entitled, “Fight them, Allah will punish them by your hands”. Footage showing the attacks on the Twin Towers on 9/11 are highlighted and also show the ideological roots of Daesh with its Al Qaeda influences.

The narrator goes onto say:

“If it was Paris yesterday, and today in Brussels, Allah knows where it will be tomorrow?”

“Maybe it will be in London or Berlin or Rome.”

The video is the latest in a line of releases, though the release may well be associated with two objectives. The first is to promote fear and the second is to try and recruit individuals who may be succeptible to the messages of Daesh. Regarding the latter, the influence of Daesh may be waning after high profile murders of people in Paris and Brussels, which also led to revulsion within Muslim communities. In the meantime, all Europeans can do, is to remain vigilant and carry on with their lives as normally as possible.