Belgium called Monday for “mobilizing the international community” in solidarity with Lebanon, saying the country “is going through a critical situation” due to the crisis in neighboring Syria.

“I expressed Belgium's strong determination to support Lebanon, especially at the international organizations, as Lebanon is going through a critical situation due to the Syrian crisis and it is hosting a large number of refugees,” Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said after talks with Premier Tammam Salam in Brussels.

Chaos hit Belgium on Monday as workers walked out to protest the new government's austerity measures with the city of Liege effectively closed down.

In four of Belgium's ten provinces, public transport was halted, with schools and major shopping districts closed or running a highly reduced service.

A Moroccan man admitted setting fire to a Shiite mosque in Brussels to protest the crackdown on fellow Sunnis in Syria when he went on trial Thursday for the attack that killed the imam.

But Rachid El-Boukhari, 35, denied intending to kill the preacher at the main Shiite mosque in the Belgian capital when he addressed the court here, according to news reports.

Authorities in Belgium said Wednesday they had ruled out the presence of any Belgian nationals in a video by the Islamic State group that shows the beheadings of Syrian military personnel.

Belgian officials had been analyzing the video after a newspaper reported that one of the men featured in the video looked like Abdelmajid Gharmaoui, who is currently on trial in his absence in Belgium for membership of a jihadist group.

Belgian authorities were investigating Tuesday whether an alleged jihadist from a Brussels suburb had appeared in a video by the Islamic State group that shows the beheadings of Syrian military personnel.

The Belgian daily Het Laatste Nieuws reported that one of the men featured in the video looked like Abdelmajid Gharmaoui, who is currently on trial in his absence in Belgium for membership of a jihadist group.

Lebanese authorities have been informed that Belgium will withdraw its contingent from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, the peacekeeping mission's spokesperson, Andrea Tenenti, said.

Tenenti told An Nahar newspaper published on Tuesday that the UNIFIL leadership was first informed about Belgium's decision by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations in New York.

Belgium's King Philippe visited the Jewish Museum in Brussels on Friday in a show of support for the Jewish community and the relatives of four people killed in a gun attack there in May.

Frenchman Mehdi Nemmouche, who had spent more than a year fighting with Islamic extremists in Syria, is awaiting trial for the attack on charges of "murder in a terrorist context."

Tens of thousands of Belgians gathered for a huge march through the capital Brussels Thursday in the first mass protest against the new center-right government's austerity policies.

The march is the first in a series of rallies and strikes against economic and social reforms announced by Prime Minister Charles Michel, a French-speaking liberal who heads an unprecedented center-right coalition that includes Flemish nationalists.

Belgium on Tuesday banned a Kuwaiti Muslim preacher from attending an event in Brussels, accusing him of making anti-Semitic remarks and being a threat to public order.

Tareq Al-Suwaidan, described as a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Gulf state, was due to speak at the Brussels Muslim Fair this weekend.

Belgium said Thursday six F-16 fighter jets would continue operations until the end of the year as part of the U.S.-led coalition trying to force back Islamic State militants in Iraq.

The former Socialist-led government of premier Elli Di Rupo approved an initial month-long deployment, which includes 120 military personnel, in early September.