The mayor of the Belgian city of Charleroi resigned on Saturday, one day after he was arrested and charged with public corruption, Belgian media reported, according to Reuters. Police arrested Jacques Van Gompel, a prominent politician in the French-speaking Socialist party, part of the national governing coalition, on Friday, media and a police source said. On Saturday officials of the Socialist Party of Charleroi met. Later their president, Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe, announced Van Gompel had resigned, Belga news service reported. The party, which has been trying to shed its long-time image of corruption, won the municipal elections in Charleroi earlier this month, although by smaller margins than in the past. Van Gompel's arrest follows those of a number of civil servants in the past few weeks in Charleroi, who have also been charged with corruption. Belgium includes French-speaking Wallonia and Dutch-speaking Flanders.
