Belgium seeks shopkeeper help in foiling attacks

Belgian authorities are preparing guidelines for shopkeepers on how to report suspicious customers to the police in order to foil potential terror attacks, an economy ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

The ministry is drawing up a manual telling owners of businesses such as pharmacies, paint shops and hardware stores what to do if a customer acts suspiciously, such as buying a large quantity of products that could be used to make homemade explosives.

“Shopkeepers are asked to report thefts, disappearances of products or purchases in abnormal quantities,” economy ministry spokesman Etienne Mignolet told AFP.

“If there is a suspicious transaction, shopkeepers are urged to inform the police,” he added. “Our main objective is to stop the criminal use of home-made explosives.”

The manual will be published in the next few weeks.

A European directive that came into law in Belgium in June this year requires shopkeepers to notify the police about suspicious purchases or behaviour.

UCM, a Belgian trade union for independent business owners and small businesses, is unhappy about the new measures.

“It’s not for shopkeepers to determine if their customer is a terrorist or not,” Jonathan Lesceux, a business development advisor at the union, told AFP.

“Business owners have a relationship of trust with their customers which shouldn’t be compromised. They need to be focusing on giving good service, not on catching terrorists,” he added.

Explosives made from shop-bought chemical products were used by jihadists in the November 2015 Paris attacks and the March 22 attacks in Brussels.

Certain products such as acetone, fertilizer and sulphuric acid are treated as suspicious if bought in large quantities.

Shopkeepers are also expected to inform police if a customer is unable to explain how he or she will use the chemicals, pays using an unusual method of payment or is unwilling to provide proof of identity or address.

Shopkeepers could incur fines of up to 600,000 euros ($673,932), or a prison sentence of between one and five years if they fail to inform the police about a suspicious transaction.

In May, a court found that a Belgian terror cell raided by police in January 2015 had large quantities of chemical products used to make TATP, the homemade explosive used by Islamic State terrorists in the Paris and Brussels attacks.