It comes as Israeli newspaper Haaretz claimed in an exclusive report that Belgian intelligence had precise warning the airport was a bombing target. Brahim el-Bakraoui is pictured in a July 2015 image taken by Turkish police. Credit:AP The publication said "security services knew, with a high degree of certainty, that attacks were planned in the very near future for the airport and, apparently, for the subway as well", but did not offer a source for the information. The security lapses in a country that is home to the European Union and NATO have drawn international criticism of an apparent reluctance to tackle Islamist radicals effectively. It also raised questions about information sharing between Western intelligence services. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Bakraoui, 29, had been expelled last July after being arrested near the Syrian border and two officials said he had been deported a second time. Belgian and Dutch authorities had been notified of Turkish suspicions that he was a foreign fighter trying to reach Syria.

At the time, Belgian authorities replied that Bakraoui, who had skipped parole after serving less than half of a nine-year sentence for armed robbery, was a criminal but not a militant. A police car believed to be transporting terror suspect Salah Abdeslam leaves the prison in Bruges, Belgium, on Thursday. Credit:AP "You can ask how it came about that someone was let out so early and that we missed the chance to seize him when he was in Turkey. I understand the questions," Mr Jambon said. "In the circumstances, it was right to take political responsibility and I offered my resignation to the prime minister." Mr Geens said systems should be reviewed but said that other countries had been attacked and cited in particular September 11, 2001 in the United States, noting that "there were 3000 dead". People embrace at the Place De La Bourse in Brussels in honour of the victims of the terrorist attacks. Credit:Getty Images

"We must be very critical of ourselves," he said. "On the other hand ... we must note that such events have occurred in the countries with the highest security, with the best intelligence services in the world." Investigators are convinced the same jihadist network was involved in the November Paris attacks on cafes, a sports stadium and a concert hall that killed 130 people. People gather at a memorial site in Brussels on Wednesday. Credit:AP Public broadcaster VRT said investigators believed Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, arrested last Friday, probably planned a similar shooting and suicide bomb attack in Brussels. "The terrorists were planning the same scenario as in Paris, only it partially failed," VRT said.

One man was killed in a shootout with police on March 15 that led to the discovery of assault weapons and explosives and the arrest of Abdeslam, 26, and another suspect on March 18. Belgium lowered its security alert level overnight – one notch down from four, the highest level, to three – but officials did not say what that would mean in terms of security measures that have seen a heavy police and military presence in Brussels. Islamic State posted a video on social media calling the Brussels blasts a victory and featuring the training of Belgian militants suspected in the Paris attacks. It also included clips of US Presidential hopeful, Republican Donald Trump, likely as propaganda to prove the success of the jihadists' plots. "Brussels was one of the great cities – one of the most beautiful cities of the world 20 years ago – and safe," Mr Trump says in comments after the attacks. "And now it's a horror show – an absolute horror show." The lawyer of the chief surviving suspect linking the Paris and Brussels attacks, French national Abdeslam, said he wanted to "explain himself" and would no longer resist extradition to France. Salah, said lawyer Sven Mary, had not been aware of the plan for the Brussels airport and metro attack that was carried out by men who had shared hideouts with him.

After calls from the presidential frontrunner for the possible use of torture in such cases, Belgian officials have faced questions over their failure to extract prior intelligence from Abdeslam. Two sources familiar with the matter said the Bakraoui brothers had been on US government counter-terrorism watch lists before the attacks. But it was not clear precisely how long they had been known to the authorities. Bakraoui's brother Khalid, 26, a fellow convict, killed about 20 people at Maelbeek metro station in the city centre. De Morgen newspaper said he had violated the terms of his parole last May by maintaining contacts with past criminal associates, but a Belgian magistrate had released him. Security sources told Belgian media the other suicide bomber at the airport was Najim Laachraoui, a veteran Belgian Islamist fighter in Syria suspected of making explosive belts for November's Paris attacks. Laachraoui's younger brother Mourad issued a statement condemning his actions in the first public reaction from a family member of one of the Brussels attackers.

The third suspect captured on airport security cameras pushing a baggage trolley into the departures hall is now the target of a police manhunt. He has not been named. The attacks highlighted Belgium's problem with some 300 locals who have fought in Syria, the biggest contingent from Europe in relation to its national population of 11 million. At the time of the Paris attacks, its security service had fewer than 600 staff. The government has since raised spending on police and intelligence. The Belgium prime minister has reportedly rejected the ministers' offer to resign. Dutch Justice Minister Ad van der Steur, meanwhile, presented documents to the Dutch Parliament in The Hague on Thursday showing that the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs had sent a message to the Dutch embassy in Ankara 26 minutes before Bakraoui's scheduled take-off, saying that Bakraoui would be on the flight to Schiphol. The note didn't say why Bakraoui was being expelled. "The note did not contain any information or clarification about the background or about the reason Turkey facilitated the flight," Mr Van der Steur said in a letter to parliament, adding that the Netherlands didn't receive a request to take any action on Bakraoui.

"No suspicions were known about him" when Bakraoui landed in the Netherlands, Van der Steur said in the letter, which was posted on the parliament's website late on Thursday. "It was not a return from detention nor an escorted return," and Bakraoui had a valid Belgian passport, he said. Reuters, Bloomberg Follow FairfaxForeign on Twitter Follow FairfaxForeign on Facebook