Belgian police arrest detective in Dutroux affair .
Geert de Clercq
NEUFCHATEAU , Belgium 1996-08-25
Investigators arrested a senior police detective on Sunday in connection with their inquiries into Belgium 's child sex scandal , Public Prosecutor Michel Bourlet said .
" Georges Zicot was arrested and will be charged with truck theft , insurance fraud and document forgery , " Bourlet told a news conference .
He said there had been searches at three sites on Sunday , including one at the Charleroi judicial police headquarters where Zicot worked .
Zicot , 45 , is a specialist in tackling vehicle theft .
Belgian media reported that he had been questioned twice in the past two years about thefts but released both times .
He was promoted to chief detective earlier this year .
Bourlet said two other people had also been arrested .
One was Gerard Pignon , the owner of a warehouse where stolen vehicles were allegedly stored .
The other was insurer Thierry Dehaan .
Bourlet said the investigation into the vehicle theft ring would be added to the inquiry into the paedophile sex scandal in which five other people have already been arrested .
He said the connection was through Bernard Weinstein , an accomplice of convicted child rapist Marc Dutroux -- the central figure in the paedophile scandal that has sent shockwaves across Europe .
Weinstein was found dead last weekend alongside the bodies of eight-year-olds Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo in a house belonging to Detroux , who said they starved to death earlier this year , nine months after being abducted in June 1995 .
Two other girls have been rescued and police are hunting for at least two more who Dutroux has admitted kidnapping a year ago .
" Dutroux has admitted killing Weinstein after a disagreement between the accomplices in an affair of truck theft , " Bourlet said .
Another four people were also questioned at the weekend but had not been detained , Bourlet added .
Anne Thily , public prosecutor in the eastern city of Liege where Julie and Melissa lived , said this was a major case involving some 50 investigators -- including two from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation .