This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/1344
She became "more Muslim then the Muslims" says mother of convert daughter who was married 3 times to Muslim men
December 1, 2005
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-12-01-belgians-bomber_x.htm
Belgians shocked to learn of suicide bomber
MONCEAU-SUR-SAMBRE, Belgium (AP) — She was the typical girl-next-door — pretty daughter of a hospital secretary who grew up on a quiet street in this rust-belt town and finished high school before becoming a bakers' assistant.A Brussels woman reads coverage of a Belgian woman who died in a suicide bombing in Iraq. | |||
Geert Vanden Wijngaert, AP |
Years later she was in Baghdad, carrying out a suicide bombing in the name of jihad — a disturbing sign of the reach of Islamic militancy.
Neighbors say Muriel Degauque, who blew herself up last month at age 38 trying to attack U.S. troops, had lived a conventional life but became heavily involved in Islam after marrying an Algerian.
"She was absolutely normal as a kid," said Jeannine Samain, who lives a few doors down from the Degauque family home in the shadows of a towering coal pile. "When it snowed, they would go to the hill together with the sled."
She recalled the last time she saw Degauque, eight months ago: "She was veiled. By that time she would just say 'bonjour' and that was it."
Authorities say Degauque carried out an attack Nov. 9 near an American military patrol in Iraq after entering the country from Syria a month ago, and was the only person killed.
"It is the first time that we see a Western woman, a Belgian, marrying a radical Muslim and is converted up to the point of becoming a jihad fighter," federal police director Glenn Audenaert said.
Authorities say Degauque had been a member of a terror group that embraced al-Qaeda's ideology. The group included her second husband, a Belgian of Moroccan origin who entered Iraq with Degauque and was killed in murky circumstances while trying to set up a separate suicide bombing.
Experts said converts to Islam like Degauque are often easy prey for extremists because their search for a new identity can make them impressionable.
"The phenomenon is not really new for the security services, but it is for the public. For them it is a real shock," said Edwin Bakker, a terrorism expert at the Clingendael Institute in the Hague, Netherlands. "They are looking for ... a new sense to their life."
Media reports said Degauque had problems with drugs and alcohol as an adolescent but later turned to a particularly strict form of Islam. Experts say that is a common pattern for Western-born recruits to Islamic radicalism.
When the woman's mother, Liliane Degauque, saw police coming to her doorstep on Wednesday, she said she knew immediately what it was about. She had heard reports the evening before that there was a terrorist attack on Nov. 9 by a Belgian woman and sensed it was her daughter.
"For three weeks already I tried to contact her by telephone, but I got the answering machine," she told the RTBF network on Thursday.
Monceau-sur-Sambret bristles with factory smokestacks and uneven cobblestone streets lead to cheap supermarkets in the town, located near the industrial city of Charleroi.
But the Degauques' brick home at 33 Rue de l'Europe is a touch more genteel than others. Liliane Degauque is a medical secretary and Degaugue's father, Jean, is a retired factory worker.
Authorities on Thursday formally arrested five of 14 suspects detained in dawn raids the day before and charged them with involvement in a terrorist network that sent volunteers to Iraq, including Muriel Degauque.
Nine were released. Those placed under arrest were a Tunisian and four Belgians, three with North African ancestry.
"This action shows how international terrorism tries to set up networks in western European nations, recruit for terror attacks in conflict areas and look for funds to finance terrorism," said Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt.
In France, police in the Paris region arrested a 15th suspect, a 27-year-old Tunisian thought to have contacts with the Belgian group.
Authorities said the Belgian network had been planning to send more volunteers to Iraq for attacks.
Belgium has been identified as a breeding ground for terrorists in the past and there are currently 13 Belgian and Moroccan nationals on trial for allegedly being members of an Islamic group suspected in recent bomb attacks in Spain and Morocco.
Islamic radical groups linked to the al-Qaeda terror network are suspected of setting up networks in Belgium and other European nations with large Muslim communities.
For many in Belgium, Wednesday's arrests were a chilling reminder that no one is immune.
"Belgium is directly involved in the terrorist threat," said Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx.
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-1900483,00.html
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------------------------------------- 'This is our Belgian kamikaze' http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/12/01/belgium.iraq.ap/ BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- Belgians were trying to come to terms Thursday with the news that a working class woman from an industrial southern city had turned from a "nice" shop assistant into a suicide bomber who blew herself up in Iraq. "This is our Belgian kamikaze killed in Iraq," headlined the newspaper La Derniere Heure on Thursday over a picture of a thoroughly normal-looking, smiling girl looking into the camera. When her mother, Liliane Degauque, saw police coming to her doorstep on Wednesday, she immediately knew what it was about. The evening before, she had heard the reports there had been a terrorist attack on Nov. 9 by a Belgian woman. "When I saw the first pictures, I said to myself, 'it is my girl.' For three weeks already I tried to contact her by telephone but I got the answering machine," she told the RTBF network on Thursday. Authorities on Thursday formally arrested 5 of the 14 suspects they detained in dawn raids the day before and charged them with involvement in a terrorist network that sent volunteers to Iraq, including Degauque's daughter Muriel, who died at 38. Nine were released. Those placed under arrest were a Tunisian and four Belgians, three of whom had foreign roots. "This action shows how international terrorism tries to set up networks in western European nations, recruit for terror attacks in conflict areas and look for funds to finance terrorism," said Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt. In her younger years, Muriel lived a conventional life in the Charleroi area. Media reports said she finished high school before taking on several jobs, including selling bread in a bakery. "She was so nice," said her mother. The picture in the paper dated from that time. She told media, however, that her daughter could easily be influenced. Muriel changed first when she married an Algerian man and later one with Moroccan roots. She was increasingly drawn into fundamentalist religion. "It is the first time that we see that a Western woman, a Belgian, marries a radical Muslim, and is converted up to the point of becoming a jihad fighter," said federal police director Glenn Audenaert. Eventually, she traveled to Iraq through Syria and, with bombs strapped to her body, was killed in a failed suicide attack against U.S. troops. Her husband died in a separate incident in Iraq. Audenaert said the members of the organization "embraced the ideology of al-Qaeda." He was not surprised a woman was among them. "It is a new generation and, perversely, emancipation allows women to aspire to martyrdom," he told VRT network. In France on Wednesday, police in the Paris region arrested a 15th suspect, a 27-year-old Tunisian man thought to have had contacts with the Belgian group. Authorities said the Belgian network was planning to send more volunteers to Iraq for attacks. The raids in Brussels and three other cities across the country involving more than 200 police officers followed media reports of the Belgian woman's suicide. Nine of the 14 suspects were Belgian, of which only two had foreign roots. Three were Moroccan and two were Tunisian. Police carried out raids and detained 11 people in the capital Brussels, and one each in southern Charleroi, northern Antwerp and eastern Riemst. Belgium has been mentioned as a breeding ground for terrorists in the past and there are currently 13 Belgian and Moroccan nationals on trial for allegedly being members of an Islamic group suspected in recent bomb attacks in Spain and Morocco. Islamic radical groups linked to al-Qaeda terror network are suspected of setting up networks in Belgium and other European nations with large Muslim communities. For many in Belgium though, Wednesday's arrests were a chilling reminder that no one is immune. "Belgium is directly involved in the terrorist threat," said Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx. |
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/1344