February 19, 2016 Milan Schreur

Paris: A suspect linked to the November Paris attackers was found with surveillance footage of a high-ranking Belgian nuclear official, Belgian authorities have acknowledged, raising fears that the Islamic State is trying to obtain radioactive material for a terrorist attack.

The news set off an immediate uproar among Belgian lawmakers, who charged that they and the country had been misled about the extent of the potential threats to the country's nuclear facilities, as well as about the ambitions of the terrorist network linked to the Islamic State that used Belgium to plot the Paris attacks, which killed 130 people.

Belgian news media, citing sources close to the investigation, said that the surveillance footage had been retrieved from the home of Mohamed Bakkali, who was arrested after the attacks and is in detention on charges of terrorist activity and murder.

Belgian officials have asserted privately that Bakkali may have been involved in planning several attacks, not only those in Paris. There are currently eight people in detention in Belgium who have been charged with involvement in the November attacks.

The existence of the footage, which police in Belgium seized on November 30, was confirmed by Thierry Werts, a spokesman for Belgium's federal prosecutor, after being reported in the Belgian daily newspaper La Derniere Heure.

The purpose of the footage retrieved by Belgian police was not clear. But experts and officials speculated that it could have been part of a plot to abduct the nuclear official, who was not identified but had access to secure areas of a nuclear research facility in Mol, and force him to turn over radioactive material, possibly for use in a dirty bomb.

Sebastien Berg, a spokesman for Belgium's Federal Agency for Nuclear Control, confirmed that the agency had been immediately informed of the existence of the footage and said that employees had been told to increase their vigilance on the work floor. But he acknowledged that no additional guards had been hired or other measures taken to secure the perimeters of Belgium's nuclear sites.

"We took increased security measures at all four Belgian nuclear sites, based on the general raised security alert in the country and on concrete indications that showed that the terrorists involved in the Paris attacks had the intention to do something involving one of our four nuclear sites," Mr Berg said.

Those sites include two power plants and a private company that produces medical isotopes, in addition to the facility in Mol, where scientists conduct research and experiments on radioactive waste to try to find safer ways to store it and reduce damage to the environment, Mr Berg said.

One experiment involves the stocking of nuclear waste in bunkers dozens of metres underground, he said, adding that the facility had large stocks of nuclear waste on hand.

Members of Belgium's parliament expressed outrage in a regular session on Thursday, saying that the interior minister, Jan Jambon, had told them in January that there was no specific threat to nuclear facilities.

"Your services possessed this videotape since November 30, and the nuclear control agency was informed immediately," said Jean-Marc Nollet, an MP from Ecolo, Belgium's green party. "So I don't understand how you could have been in possession of this video since November 30, but on January 13, when I questioned you on this, you answered, 'There is no specific threat to the nuclear facilities'".

"I agree we shouldn't give in to panic, but between giving in to panic and denying the magnitude of the risks, there is a big difference," Mr Nollet said.

Mr Jambon responded that after viewing the tapes, the ministry had determined that there was a threat "to the person in question, but not the nuclear facilities".

Mr Berg said that the material at the site in Mol could also be used to make a dirty bomb, which would spread radioactive material over the whole impact zone.

"If they find a way to spread such material among the population, they could do a lot of damage," he said of the terrorist network. "Anything is possible. It is only up to them to come up with such evil ideas."

Read more: Belgium finds video of nuclear official in terrorism suspect's home