PM speaks on high alert situation in Brussels

Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama arrived in Brussels over the weekend in the middle of the Belgian capital being put on high alert.

Speaking from Brussels as he gets ready for ACP/EU talks, Bainimarama said the whole place is closed down including the metro.

Bainimarama told Fijivillage last night that they were advised by the police to fly in by air on Saturday when they travelled from London but the High Commission had already booked them on the Eurostar fast train that took two and a half hours from London to Brussels.

Bainimarama says they have been advised to stay indoors.

He says it is a pity because his visit to the gravesite of Lekima Mua, son of Ratu Sakiusa Vakalolo of Somosomo, Taveuni who was killed during World War 1 had to be cancelled yesterday including a visit to Flanders Field Museum.

Bainimarama says they have police and military personnel on the streets 24/7.

Brussels remains under partial lockdown after police carried out raids around the Belgian capital amid warnings of possible terrorist attacks similar to those that killed 130 people in Paris 10 days ago.

Five more people were arrested, bringing to 21 the number of people arrested in raids across Brussels.

But authorities found no firearms or explosives in the raids, suggesting they hadn't defused the threat that has prompted the government to raise the terrorism alert to its highest level for Brussels.

The operation also didn't uncover Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in the November 13 attacks on Paris who fled to Belgium in the aftermath and remains on the loose.

CNN security analyst Paul Cruickshank said there's "unprecedented concern" among Belgium authorities.

He says the worry is that there's another attack team out there, that they have explosives and weapons.

Belgian police don't have a handle on where these guys are and that's why they're shaking the tree so hard.

CNN reports that as the work week begins in Brussels, a major European capital, schools, shopping malls and the subway remain closed. Soldiers and heavily armed police are out in force on the streets, and people have been warned to avoid large gatherings. The U.S. Embassy announced that its consular section would close Tuesday because of the high threat level.