Belgium keeps man in custody after canisters found in van

Police and members of the bomb squad investigate an area in the center of Brussels on Thursday, March 2, 2017. Belgian authorities have closed off part of the center of Brussels and a subway station after a suspect was detained with gas canisters in the trunk of his car. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert) (The Associated Press)

Police officers stand at a cordon during the investigation of a suspect car in the center of Brussels on Thursday, March 2, 2017. Belgian authorities have closed off part of the center of Brussels and a subway station after a suspect was detained with gas canisters in the trunk of his car. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert) (The Associated Press)

A member of the bomb squad manipulates a robot as he investigates an area in the center of Brussels on Thursday, March 2, 2017. Belgian authorities have closed off part of the center of Brussels and a subway station after a suspect was detained with gas canisters in the trunk of his car. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert) (The Associated Press)

Belgian authorities are continuing to detain a man previously convicted on terror-related charges who was speeding through the center of Brussels with a van loaded with two gas canisters late Thursday.

The prosecutor's office said Friday the man, identified only as M.A., was convicted last year and local media said he had sought to go fight in Syria. Once his identity became clear to police after he was stopped for running a red light, part of the center of Brussels was closed off during the evening rush hour.

A bomb squad found no detonator or explosives, and only one of the two gas canisters was full.