BRUSSELS // Belgium's transport minister resigned on Friday after being accused of ignoring European Union reports of security failings at the country's airports ahead of last month's attacks in Brussels.
The resignation of Jacqueline Galant, who was under fire after the EU reports were leaked to the media, is the first political fallout from the March 22 bombings that killed 32 people in Brussels, including 16 at the national airport.
It follows the resignation of a senior transport official on Thursday who accused the little-experienced Ms Galant of incompetence and "Gestapo-like" behaviour.
The EU reports only covered areas of the airport beyond security checks, but they pointed to "serious deficiencies" in security including an inadequate tracing of explosive devices.
Ms Galant denied she was ever made aware of the reports that date back to 2008 and also warn of an alarming lack of staff and funding at the airport authority.
But a senior official said he had clearly notified Ms Galant and her office and even provided separate expertise drawn up in January 2015 after the extremist attacks on the Charlie Hebdo magazine offices in Paris.
That report warned that a terrorist attack on Belgium's airports "was no longer hypothetical".
"The fact that about a dozen Brussels airport employees with access to sensitive areas have been identified as either having left or potentially leaving for Syria, must serve as a warning," the report said, according to La Libre Belgique newspaper.
Mr Michel confirmed to lawmakers on Thursday that the reports were indeed received by Ms Galant's staff, heaping pressure on her to step down.
Meanwhile, several properties were searched in the central English city of Birmingham on Friday in an investigation that security officials say is possibly linked to a key suspect in the deadly attacks in Paris and Brussels.
Four people - three men aged 26, 40 and 59 and one 29-year-old woman - were also arrested on Thursday in Birmingham as part of the same investigation, while a 26-year-old man was arrested on Friday at London's Gatwick Airport. Police said the five were arrested for suspected ties to the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terror.
Authorities in Belgium last week detained a suspect in connection with the Paris and Brussels attacks who had ties to the Birmingham area. Mohamed Abrini, dubbed the "man in the hat", made multiple trips to the city last year, meeting with several men suspected of terrorist activity, a European security official said.
* Agence France-Presse, with additional reporting by Associated Press
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