Airport Bomber 'Was Freed Despite Warning'

One of the Brussels airport bombers was freed from custody in Europe despite Turkey warning he was a "foreign fighter", the Turkish president has claimed.

Ibrahim El Bakraoui was detained in the Turkish city of Gaziantep last June near the Syrian border and then deported to the Netherlands a month later at his own request, said Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Turkish leader said Belgian consular authorities were told about his deportation in July.

But El Bakraoui was later freed as Belgian authorities "ignored our warning that this person is a foreign fighter", said Mr Erdogan, without saying when.

The president's office later said he was released as "no links with terrorism" were found by Belgian officials.

Turkey also warned Dutch authorities, Mr Erdogan said. A Dutch government official says the president's remarks are being investigated, while Belgian officials have not responded to the claims.

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It comes as the second airport bomber was identified as Najim Laachraoui, according to the AFP news agency, citing police sources.

Laachraoui was a suspected Islamic State recruiter and bomb maker, and was also thought to have created the explosive devices used in November's Paris massacre.

A manhunt is under way for a third airport suspect caught on CCTV footage, who fled when his explosive device failed.

Several suspects linked to Tuesday's attacks, which killed 31 people and injured around 300, are also at large.

El Bakraoui's brother, Khalid, carried out a suicide attack on a crowded train carriage at Maalbeek metro station in Brussels about an hour after the airport bombings.

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The brothers had criminal records but had not previously been linked by police to terrorism, it was reported.

Ibrahim had been sentenced to nine years in prison after being convicted in October 2010 of firing a Kalashnikov assault rifle at police and wounding an officer after a robbery in Brussels earlier that year.

In 2011, Khalid was jailed for five years for carjacking.