Friday 12 December 2008

Belgian police prevent terrorist attack in Brussels as EU leaders meet

"The investigation that lead to the arrest of about fifteen people from jihadist networks in Belgium early on Thursday, December 11, began about a year ago. In 2007, a developing cell had been identified near Malika El-Aroud, a Belgian national from Morocco who was well-known among European security services. Her first husband [Dahmane Abd al-Sattar] is indeed one of the murderers of Commander Ahmed Shah Massoud who was killed in September 2001, less than three days before the 9-11 attacks in New York and Washington. While she was still leaving in Afghanistan (in the same camp as Osama bin Laden…) at the time of the international coalition’s military intervention in October 2001, El-Aroud played it wisely – she pretended to be a victim and promised information – in order to receive support from the Belgian authorities to leave Afghanistan …" Read more
Source: ESISC
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"As European Union leaders gathered Thursday in Brussels for a end of the year two-day summit, Belgian police said they have thwarted an imminent al-Qaeda suicide bomb.

"It is more than likely that an attack in Brussels has been prevented," said a Belgian government statement.

According to media reports, the arrival of EU leaders and intelligence that a terror attack was on the way triggered a massive police operation, involving 242 officers, in overnight house raids in the Belgian cities of Brussels and Liège.

Police arrested 14 suspects, three of whom, including the suspected suicide bomber, who had just returned from Afghanistan, where it is thought they had received orders from al-Qaeda commanders.

Johan Delmulle, a Belgian federal prosecutor, told journalists that information in the hands of police indicated one of the 14 "was possibly planning a suicide attack." But he did not specify whether the target was among the presidents and prime ministers who were gathering Thursday afternoon for the two-day summit conference.

Police have been closely watching the suspected suicide bomber, one of four Belgian citizens in the group.

He returned from Afghanistan on Dec 4 and three days later police received information he was planning to send a video message to close relations.

Delmulle described the raids as "the most important" anti-terrorism operation in Belgium following a one year investigation of a Belgian Islamist group involved in training as well as fighting on the Pakistan-Afghan border.

The investigation centered on people linked to Nizar Trabelsi, a 37-year-old Tunisian sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2003 for planning to a drive a car bomb into the cafeteria of a Belgian air base where about 100 American military personnel are stationed.

Security services in several European nations suspect Trabelsi, who trained with al-Qaida in Afghanistan, had links with extremists in Britain, France and elsewhere in Europe."


Source: article by Yossi Lempkowicz, EJP

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow if its not good for Jews then its not good. The world must be divided into those who are for and those who are against Jews. We either promote Jewish interests or else. Gee why in the world would anyone not like Jews.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your blog -- I found it while I was googling some info about the Markis of Pombal (the 3 yellow hats story, very interesting, even though I'm Portuguese, I did not know about it)
I'm glad the Belgians acted in advance and prevented one more mad terrorist act. Winston Churchill's comparison between nazism and fanatical muslims comes to mind... And "notthatdumb", it's not a question of being totally against or totally in favour, it is about being misinformed or well informed -- did you know that believers in conspiracy theories generaly have a lower IQ then average?...

Anonymous said...

I did not know that believers in conspiracy theories had an IQ at all. I also believe that terrorism is evil regardless of its target.

Anonymous said...

Post 911, US Internal Revenue Service authorities instituted a Foreign Tax Project (FTP) which encompasses a global search for mass quantities of cash possibly or connected with or influenced by international terror organizations. The DEA is also heavily involved in the efforts of the IRS.
In a coordinated effort to avoid paying US tax debt, investigators report that these cash transactional flow are directed to such well known tax havens as Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Belgium, Luxemburg, United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
In addition, it is also a well known fact within the intelligence community that large Arabic and Russian conglomerate trusts are routinely held by the aforementioned countries financial institutions.
Confidential sources report that the first round of individuals reportedly under scrutiny with potential international border detainment are: UK Resident Mr Jeff Wells, Lichtenstein Resident Mario La Croix, Luxemburg Resident Andre Albon and Dutch Resident Mr. Oscar J.H. de Goede. Sources supposes also suggest that several of these persons is well known to have close connections with Mr ORNSTEIN Roman, who was earlier wanted by the DEA.