US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said Muslims were failing to report suspicious activity and they must do more to help prevent attacks such as those that killed at least 34 people in Belgium on Tuesday.
He said of Muslims in an interview with Piers Morgan on ITV's Good Morning Britain: "When they see trouble they have to report it, they are not reporting it, they are absolutely not reporting it and that's a big problem."
He also promised to "hit ISIS so hard you wouldn't believe it".
Trump, whose controversial comments about Muslims – including a pledge to ban them from entering the US – have helped make him a hate figure to many, said yesterday's attacks were "retribution" for the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, who helped plot November's Paris attacks. He described parts of Brussels as an "armed camp", saying: "What's going on there and what's going on in many other locations like Paris and others is a disgrace, an absolute disgrace that we allow it to happen."
He continued: "[Salah Abdeslam] was in his neighbourhood, where he grew up, and nobody even turned him in. Many people knew he was there and yet he was the number one wanted fugitive in the world. He was there and everybody from that area knew he was there, nobody turned him in. There's something going on and there's something wrong."
Trump said: ""A lot of people in the community knew they were going to do it because in their apartment they had bombs all over the floor... and they didn't report them."
However, Miqdaad Versi, assistant secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, told ITV he could not speak for the rest of Europe but in London it is "not the case" that Muslims protected terrorists, adding that there is a "much more integrated society" in the UK.
Versi also warned that bigotry against Muslims is growing, describing it as a "serious concern".
Trump said last year that Britain had a "massive Muslim problem", tweeting: "Everyone is wise to what is happening, very sad! Be honest."
