Listed as an 'art nouveau' wonder by turn-of-the-19th-century Belgian architect Franz Tilley, the house is just a few hundred yards away from the huge European Commission buildings.

On a list of tenants by the door a scrawled name says "Faycal Cheffou", but no one answers the bell. Until police showed up on Thursday to search the Cheffou flat, "it's always been calm around here," says a baker whose shop is a couple of doors away. "We'd never have imagined anything like this," she adds.

It's all quiet otherwise "chez Cheffou" on this Easter Sunday. The neighbours are either out, on holidays or avoiding the press.

- AFP