The Organ for Monitoring and Threat Analysis (OCAM) is to decide today as to a potential reduction in the terrorist threat level. The level has been at 3 since the November 2015 Paris attacks, constituting the presence of a serious threat. In the event that it is lowered to 2, a moderate level, a series of measures - such as the deployment of the military on the streets of Brussels - might be put on hold for now.
The National Security Council, on which the government and those responsible for security sit, will meet on Monday. OCAM will set out its most recent analysis of the situation.
Sources close to the government say that a decrease in the threat level has been hinted at. Both security services and the police have invested significant efforts in the issue. Following the setbacks which Islamic State (IS) has suffered, in Syria and Iraq, the security services and the police consider that the risk of an IS attack has now significantly reduced.
One option on the table for OCAM is to decide upon a reduction of the general threat level to 2, but to keep at 3 a number of sensitive locations, which still pose a higher risk. Reducing the army numbers on the streets, and the removal of the measure, could also be jointly decided by the government, the crisis centre and the security services.
The Brussels Times
