The European Terrorism Review for July 2002 - Part Two

During the month of June other significant facts pointed towards the Netherlands, and explicitly to Eindhoven as one of the Islamic fundamentalist bases in Western & Central Europe. Eindhoven is a small city in the proximity of the Belgian border (some 20 miles). The significance of Eindhoven became clear in a report of the Dutch secret service (BVD-Bijzondere veiligheids dienst) when they stated, "Islamic extremist networks in the Netherlands are recruiting and funding Moroccan youths for the jihad in Kashmir and other places". Eindhoven has been described as a fundamentalist hotbed and indeed a city that has been associated with several extremist Islamic causes in the past, although the mosque’s spokesman officially distanced himself from the Al Qa'ida network and its leader Bin Laden.

The Dutch police arrested an Algerian in Eindhoven suspected of being involved in the killing of Ahmed Shah Massoud, the anti-Islamic leader of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. The man arrested, was later extradited to Belgium where authorities are investigating a passport fraud case (Massoud’s killers had Belgian passports), and there were also links between one of the killers and the Belgian fundamentalist scene. Another suspected Algerian Al Qa'ida operative living in Eindhoven was arrested in May 2002.  According to the same BVD report, Al Qa'ida networks play a big role in the Netherlands. There are indications that people linked to Bin Laden and the Taliban are trying to seek refuge in the Netherlands and other neighbouring European countries, the BVD annual report also claims.

Besides Eindhoven it is Amsterdam that is also playing an ever larger role.  Amsterdam has been cited as an important city for Al Qa'ida operatives, alleged British-born shoe bomber Richard Reid and suicide pilot Marwan al-Shehhi both spent time in Amsterdam in 2001. According to the London Sunday Times, quoting sources close to British Intelligence, there is a link between Nizar Trabelsi, the Tunisian imprisoned in Belgium and Richard Reid. According to the Sunday Times it was Trabelsi who manufactured the explosive lined shoes used by Reid. However according to the public prosecutors office in Brussels there is no evidence that Trabelsi manufactured the shoes, but there is a link between the two. Trabelsi is also questioned about his role in a six and one half million Euros diamond theft at the Zaventem National airport in October 2000.

Nizar Trabelsi was already known for his activities tied to drugs and diamond trafficking and according to some sources a large sum of money was transferred to Afghanistan through him at a date close to the heist. On June 13 a series of searches in the Islamist milieus of the capital and surrounding municipalities took place. The five people questioned have already been released but they all belonged to the entourage of the El Hadouti brothers. The Belgian-Moroccan El Hadouti brothers, Abdelkrime and Fauzi, were already linked in the past to terrorism. Fauzi was the co manager of the "Nile" restaurant in Brussels where the police discovered a large quantity of sulphur and acetone. At the time of Trabelsi’s arrest he was in the possession of a formula to make a bomb based on sulphur and acetone probably to be used against the US Embassy in Paris.

Belgium a major Al Qa'ida base

Furthermore, according to the Belgian daily newspaper "de Morgen" the Belgian/US airbase of Kleine Brogel figured on the list of targets after 11 September of terrorists surrounding Nizar Trabelsi. This airbase is located near the Belgian/Dutch border, only 20 miles from Eindhoven. This list points out that not only US targets in Southern Europe with close proximity to North Africa were targeted but also places in Western & Central Europe. This also points out that Trabelsi was a key figure in the European theatre for Al Qa'ida linking the Netherlands with Belgium and Spain, however as Trabelsi has been arrested by the Belgian services we have to assume that his role has been picked up by someone else and that the route is still intact basing this statement on the latest developments in Spain and Morocco. In 1988 the founding manifesto of the fighting Islamic group of Morocco (GICM) was found in Brussels along with fundamentalist literature pointed to a North African network involved with fundamentalism and calling for the re-islamisation of Morocco already existed in Europe. The bases for this network were located in Belgium, Italy, Denmark and Morocco.

According to a report of the Belgian parliaments Intelligence committee Belgium became a recruiting base and launch pad for future attacks across Europe and the Middle East. Apparently the Saudi backed Salafi movement has created some sort of religious ‘state’ within Belgium, operating their own ‘Islamic police’ to enforce Islamic rules and punish drug dealers, prostitutes and other culprits, but most likely also to get parts of the market in hands to gain funds for their actions. Racketeering and fundraising has been one of the major activities of these groups inside Belgium and other European countries in the past. The report said that most recruits are second and third generation immigrants, mainly with North African roots. Belgium has some 350.000 Muslims and several of the country’s influential clerics have links of some sort with Al Qa'ida.

There is a concern that the recruits could become a "fifth column" that could be a serious security problem within Europe in the event of a future major Middle East conflict. This is of course not only the case in Belgium but in every European country that has a large community of immigrants. Belgium however is being used as a logistical base for fundamentalist groups like Al Qa'ida, the GIA, the Wahabi Tabligh, the GSPC, the Muslim brotherhood, etc… but also by left wing or nationalist groups such as ETA, GRAPO, and others. Belgium itself is probably not a major target as the terrorists have no wish to provoke the authorities, however with the declaration of Article 5 by NATO, NATO assets became a potential target as all US facilities in the country. The fact that Belgium has been figuring as a logistical support base is being highlighted by the fact that several arrested terrorists were travelling with forged or stolen Belgian passports. One of the killers of Gen. Shah Massoud, leader of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan had Belgian documents. It is clear that especially the North African community (Tunisia, Morocco) has been figuring as middlemen for Al Qa'ida and other fundamentalist organizations.

The German authorities recently raided six apartments and a bookstore in Hamburg; these raids were based on the investigations of 8 persons. The persons charged have predominantly strong Muslim convictions and are suspected of having set up an organization in Hamburg based on aggressive militant Islamic fundamentalism. Apparently is this group also connected to Mohammad Ata and therefore also to the in Morocco arrested Muhammad Zammar.

Another base of support is located in Southern Europe in Italy; the Milan area is believed to be one of the major logistical bases of Al Qa'ida in Europe. Italy requested the extradition of Tarek Marouffi, a Belgian national of Tunisian origin for his role in the Milan scene and his possible role in the Strasbourg planned attack, another link highlighting the vast network of Al Qa'ida in Europe. Marouffi is also linked to the GIA, for which he received a 3-year suspended sentence in 1995. It still has to be proven that this old network has any connections with the newly discovered one operating from Spain but we can assume that links exist and existed before. Furthermore, the Italian police are investigating a dozen people suspected of planning a terrorist attack against the Basilica of San Petronio [the most important church] in Bologna, which contains a fresco showing [Islam's founder] Mohammad in hell. The men, Tunisians and Moroccans specialized in arms trafficking and trained to carry out terrorist actions, are close to Al Qa'ida. Ferdinando Pomarici, the head of the anti-terrorism department of the Milan public prosecutor's office, warned in an interview that the threat of Islamic acts of terrorism in Italy is increasingly realistic. He pointed out Lombardy [the region including Milan] as the base for these subversive activities.