The Latest: Band hopes to reschedule Rotterdam concert
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - The Latest on the investigation into the threat in the Dutch city Rotterdam (all times local):
1:15 a.m.
The band Allah-Las says it hopes to reschedule its performance in Rotterdam, Netherlands after the original concert was cancelled due to a terror threat.
The Los Angeles-based band released a statement Thursday saying it is looking for a new date and that organizers will ensure all ticket buyers receive a refund.
"The Dutch authorities have informed us that there is no credible future threat to the venue or the band," the statement said. "More than anything, we want to thank the law enforcement personnel and our fans of Rotterdam - we're grateful everybody is safe."
Allah-Las had to cancel a gig in Rotterdam at the last minute Wednesday after Spanish police tipped Dutch authorities off about a terror threat. A Spanish man in a white van containing some gas canisters was detained for questioning near the concert venue hours later.
___
10:55 p.m.
Police in Rotterdam say they have released the driver of a van with Spanish license plates that was carrying a number of gas canisters who was detained amid a terror threat targeting a concert by an American rock band.
Police say in a statement Thursday night that "investigations established that there is no link between the man and the terror threat."
The man, a mechanic, was detained after police saw him driving back and forth near the venue, which had been evacuated following a tip from Spanish police about a possible threat to a Allah-Las concert.
A 22-year-old man arrested in the early Wednesday remains in custody on suspicion of involvement in the threat.
___
9:45 p.m.
Police are on the scene and bodyguards are carrying out detailed checks of fans arriving for a concert in Warsaw of a U.S. rock band whose gig in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, was canceled Wednesday due to a terror threat.
A few hundred fans were expected Thursday night at the NIEBO, or Heaven, club for the concert of the Los Angeles band Allah-Las. A few metal barriers were put up in front of the entrance to help make the security check orderly.
Amandine Roux, 21, from Roanne in France, lined up with her boyfriend. She says "we had planned to come to the concert some time ago and this scare in Rotterdam did not change our decision."
A Polish fan, Joanna Konieczna, 32, was excited that she would be hearing her favorite band live. She says "the events in Rotterdam did not scare me, I feel very safe in Poland."
__
1:25 p.m.
A police spokesman in Poland's capital says authorities will deploy uniformed and plainclothes officers at American rock band Allah-Las' concert in Warsaw on Thursday night, a day after the group's gig was canceled in the Netherlands because of a terror threat.
Warsaw police spokesman Robert Szumiata told The Associated Press they had no information of any threat to the Los Angeles band's concert to be held at the downtown NIEBO, or Heaven, club.
Still, Szumiata said that uniformed and plainclothes police will be deployed to the concert site and around it in order to "ensure security of people taking part in the concert and those who will find themselves in the area."
___
1 p.m.
Rotterdam's police chief says Spanish police had passed on "specific" information about the threat on a U.S. rock band's concert in the Dutch city. He added that that the arrest of a 22-year-old man early Thursday meant the threat was now over.
Police Chief Frank Paauw said the man arrested in Brabant province south of Rotterdam is suspected of being "involved in the preparation of a terrorist attack."
He said: "There is no threat because we have arrested a suspect and the information about the threat was so specific on the location of the event that with that arrest we can conclude that the threat is gone."
No further details of the suspect's identity have been released.
A concert by Los Angeles band Allah-Las was cancelled Wednesday night after a tip off from Spanish police.
___
11:45 a.m.
The Dutch counterterror chief is praising police for their actions after they arrested a suspect in an investigation into a terror threat against an American band's concert in Rotterdam and detained a van driver near the concert venue.
Police say that a 22-year-old suspect was arrested in the early hours of Thursday in Brabant province, south of Rotterdam. Late Wednesday, the driver of a van with Spanish license plates that was carrying a number of gas canisters was detained in Rotterdam.
Police said Thursday that the van driver was a mechanic who was likely drunk at the time. A search of his home uncovered nothing to link him to the terror threat, police said.
In his first public comment about the events in Rotterdam, National Counterterror Coordinator Dick Schoof said in a tweet: "Police action alert, appropriate for the current threat level."
___
9:15 a.m.
Dutch police say they have detained a man in the eastern Brabant province in connection with a threat that forced the cancellation of a concert by an American rock band in the port city of Rotterdam.
Police spokesman Roland Ekkers says a 22-year-old man was detained in the early hours of Thursday. No further details about his arrest were immediately available.
U.S. band Allah-Las had to cancel a gig in Rotterdam at the last minute Wednesday after Spanish police tipped Dutch authorities off about a terror threat. A Spanish man in a white van containing some gas canisters was detained for questioning near the concert venue hours later.
Ekkers said the Spanish man was drunk and will be questioned later. Ekkers says it is "not likely" that suspect is a terror threat.
___
8:50 a.m.
Dutch police are continuing investigations into a threat to a concert venue that prompted the cancellation of a show by an American rock band, as well as into the driver of a Spain-registered van found to contain gas canisters just a few hundred meters (yards) from the venue.
Spokesman Gijs van Nimwegen said police would issue an update on the investigation early Thursday.
The concert by Los Angeles band Allah-Las in the city of Rotterdam was called off Wednesday night after Spanish authorities tipped Dutch police about a possible threat to the concert.
Two hours later police detained the driver of the van.
Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb said late Wednesday it was too early to know if the Spanish van was linked to the terror threat.