Photo of part of 5 page letter
Posted on 11/05/2004 12:02:19 PM PST by Shermy
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A Dutch-Moroccan man accused of killing a filmmaker critical of Islam will also be charged with membership of a group with "terrorist intentions" and conspiracy to murder a politician, prosecutors said Friday.
Prosecutor Leo de Wit told a news conference the 26-year-old man, identified by Dutch media as Mohammed B., will be charged with the murder of film director Theo van Gogh, who was stabbed and shot as he cycled to work in Amsterdam Tuesday, and also with attempting to kill a policeman and a bystander.
"We will argue before the judge that he is at the center of a criminal organization and that the other arrested people are part of this group," De Wit said. The suspect, wounded during his arrest, was to be formally charged later Friday.
The killing has revived memories of the murder of anti-immigration populist Pim Fortuyn by an animal rights activist in 2002 and stoked fears of heightened racial tension in a country where hostility toward foreigners is on the rise.
The suspect, who De Wit said had maintained his right to silence, was also to be charged with conspiracy to murder prominent parliamentarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and unnamed others.
A five-page letter pinned to Van Gogh's body with a knife was addressed to Hirsi Ali, a Somali refugee who became a member of the VVD liberals. She wrote a film Van Gogh directed which accused Islam of encouraging violence against women.
"Dear Mrs Hirshi Ali (sic). Since you stepped into the political arena in the Netherlands you have been constantly busy terrorising Muslims and Islam with your remarks," the letter said, calling Hirsi Ali a "disbeliever fundamentalist."
PUBLIC ORDER CONCERNS
Police commissioner Bernard Welten said the mood was calm in Amsterdam but he had additional police out on the streets and had units on standby "to restore public order if needed."
In the central Dutch town of Utrecht, several fires broke out overnight at a new mosque belonging to a Moroccan religious association. A police spokeswoman said no evidence had been found of arson, but this was being investigated.
The Dutch cabinet said Friday it was considering ways to fight Muslim extremists, including stripping criminals with dual citizenship of their Dutch nationality, increasing police powers and boosting the budget of the AIVD security service.
Finance Minister Gerrit Zalm, who is also the deputy prime minister, told journalists the cabinet had also considered taking action against a conservative mosque in Amsterdam, regularly attended by chief suspect, Mohammed B..
The letter found on Van Gogh said Dutch politics was dominated by Jews and accused VVD parliamentary leader Jozias van Aartsen as viewing "non-Jews as non-people" and Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen of encouraging Jews to lie against non-Jews.
Another letter found with the suspect said: "To the hypocrites I say, wish death or shut your mouth."
Cohen said security measures had been stepped up and called threats against Jewish politicians like himself "revolting."
"I want to know who is active in recruiting for Jihad, inciting to hate and war against the West, not adhering to democratic laws because only God's word is true, and which organizations could operate as cover," he said.
De Wit said six of the eight north Africans arrested in connection with the murder would also be charged for membership of a criminal organization, while two others were freed.
He said authorities were investigating possible connections with other international extremist groups. Police are looking into the existence of other extremist cells in the Netherlands and Welten said more arrests were likely to follow.
Ping.
A Dutch filmmaker is a murder suspect? </comment on grammatically incoherent headline>.
You guys know of any English translations of the letter?
And exactly how many Dutch soldiers are in Iraq?
A five-page letter pinned to Van Gogh's body with a knife was addressed to Hirsi Ali, a Somali refugee who became a member of the VVD liberals. She wrote a film Van Gogh directed which accused Islam of encouraging violence against women."If you accuse us of violent tendencies we will kill you all!"
1300, including Apache helo's
Looking for one but can't find one yet.
The top countries sending troops are UK, US, Italy, Poland, Ukraine and then the Netherlands.
Ok. I was wrong to mention that aspect. And let me say a strong thank you to the Dutch, and their soldiers, and a mea culpa for implying they weren't there by our side.
Anyway, this murder doesn't have anything to do with Iraq. The crime here is criticizing Islam. Not allowed to do that, you know. Not unless you want to get yourself sliced up.
Every nation that have allowed Muslims into their country, have this to face.
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