This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/715
Members of Dutch Hofstad group international terror network trained in Chechnya - arrests continuing
June 26, 2005
Dutch Hofstad group behind murder is international terror organisation with members who trained in Chechnya
June 26, 2005
MIM: The arrests of terrorists involved in the Van Gogh murder continue worldwide. It should be noted that one of the main detainees , Jason W. a Dutch convert to Islam whose father was America was found to have more then 80 email addresses of contacts in America on his computer - and the investigation is continuing. The murder trial is expected to resume on July 16th in Amsterdam. |
http://english.people.com.cn/200506/24/print20050624_191988.html
Three suspected terrorists linked with the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh were arrested Thursday in Amsterdam, according to a Radio Netherlands report monitored here.
The main suspect is a 22-year-old Dutch citizen of Moroccan background, who was carrying a loaded machinepistol at the time of his arrest.
He is thought to be a prominent member of the Hofstad group, which has been implicated in the murder of Theo van Gogh.
The filmmaker, who had worked on the short film Submission, which described violent abuse sometimes committed against Muslim women, was shot dead in November last year.
The radio said two young women in the car with the main suspect were also arrested on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist organization.
Besides the loaded machinegun, a full cartridge clip was also found in the car, along with a silencer and a box of forty cartridges.
According to the radio, there was a connection between the arrests in Amsterdam and yesterday's arrest of a Dutch suspect in London.
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Man linked to Theo van Gogh's death appears in London Court.
LONDON (Reuters) - A Dutchman appeared in a British court on Thursday on an extradition warrant linking him to the murder last year of Dutch film-maker Theo Van Gogh.
Racid Belkacem, 32, was detained in the Whitechapel area of London on Wednesday on a Dutch extradition warrant accusing him of offences including possession of firearms and forged documentation and of "terrorist-related recruitment".
Charges read out in Bow Street Magistrates Court on Thursday accused him of association with the militant Islamic Hofstad Group, suspected by Dutch intelligence of carrying out the murder.
"The main charge is that he is associated with a terrorist group that conspired to murder a Dutch film producer who was shot and stabbed because he had information regarding this terrorist group," a court official said.
She said Belkacem was also accused of recruiting for the Jihad militant group.
Van Gogh, 47, who was murdered in Amsterdam in November, had previously received multiple death threats after his film about violence against women in Islamic societies was aired on Dutch television.
His violent death shook traditionally liberal Dutch society.
The court heard that prior to Belkacem's arrival in England in January this year, he had talked of a suicide attack against an unspecified target.
Speaking in Arabic through an interpreter, Belkacem spoke only to confirm his name and age.
He was remanded in custody until July 1 when he will appear again via video-link. The next extradition hearing is scheduled to take place on July 8.
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Dutch to ban terrorists it can't convict
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L24436703.htm
AMSTERDAM, June 24 (Reuters) - The Dutch government announced plans on Friday to issue exclusion orders for terrorist suspects who authorities see as a threat but have been unable to convict of a specific crime.
The cabinet said in a statement it wants to be able to ban people suspected of being involved in or supporting terrorist activities from a specific building or area. It also wants to be able to prevent them going near another particular individual.
Several Dutch politicians have been under heavy guard since the murder last year of outspoken filmmaker Theo van Gogh due to death threats for their criticism of radical Islam.
The new proposals appear similar to anti-terrorism measures introduced by Britain that have come under fire from human rights organisations.
The Dutch plans say suspects might also be required to report regularly to the police. The measures proposed in draft legislation could be imposed for three months at a time up to a maximum of two years.
"The measures are expressly meant to be preventative to protect national security," the government said, adding the orders would be made on the basis of confidential information from the AIVD security service.
The Dutch cabinet also agreed to plans to force non-profit organisations to publish details of their income and spending to stop them being misused to finance terrorist activities.
The plans come after a court acquitted a Dutch-Moroccan teenager in April of charges he planned attacks on government buildings, Schiphol airport and the Dutch parliament.
Dutch authorities raised a national security alert last year after they arrested Samir Azzouz and found machinegun cartridges, a bullet-proof vest, two mock explosive devices, a silencer, maps and sketches of prominent buildings in his home.
The Rotterdam court ruled that items found at Azzouz's home seemed to be intended for use in some crime but were not enough to convict him for planning specific attacks.
Dutch security services arrested three people this week on suspicion of involvement in a terrorist organisation, one of them linked to the man charged with the murder of Van Gogh.
British police also arrested a Dutch citizen in London on suspicion of belonging to the same militant network known as the Hofstad group, whose members are suspected of plotting attacks.
A top European human rights watchdog criticised Britain earlier this month after it introduced laws allowing it to restrict terrorism suspects' freedom of movement, where they live and who they communicate with.
A report by the Council of Europe said some of the British restrictions could be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1666682,00.html
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This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/715