Al-Qa'eda 'Recruiting In Holland'

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 12-11-2002 | Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

[blam]

Al-Qa'eda 'recruiting in Holland'

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Brussels
(Filed: 11/12/2002)

Al-Qa'eda's terrorist network is deeply embedded in Holland's Muslim communities and is recruiting second-generation immigrants for future attacks against Britain, the United States and Israel, according to a report by the Dutch internal intelligence service AIVD.

It said dozens of footloose Moroccan youths were being drawn into Osama bin Laden's web through mosques, prisons and cafes.

"The recruitment of these youths shows that a violent strain of radical Islam is stealthily taking root in Dutch society," said the document. Most of the recruits were either born in Holland or arrived as children.

Sybrand van Hulst, the AIVD's director, said al-Qa'eda preyed on lost souls adrift in Holland's big cities. "They're brainwashed and indoctrinated," he said.

The agency gave warning that the terrorist network was eyeing targets that "at the moment include the US, Israel and Great Britain, but also France and in the future perhaps the Netherlands".

The cells were already active and could strike "at any moment", although the AIVD has no specific knowledge of an impending attack.

A recent report by the Belgian parliament's intelligence committee painted a similar picture of al-Qa'eda penetration of North African youths in Brussels and Antwerp. It concluded that at least 30 mosques were part of the radical network and posed "a grave and immediate threat" to the constitutional order and survival of Belgian democracy.

The Dutch authorities said young Moroccans are drawn into a sub-culture of "jihad videos and internet chatrooms that discuss holy war and Islamic martyrdom".

They take part in youth congresses and Islamic summer camps. Once recruited they are isolated and prepare a farewell testimony to their families. In the past they were sent to Afghanistan for paramilitary training but now learn the terrorist trade at secret camps in Europe.

Holland has 850,000 Muslims in a population of 16 million, but recruitment has mostly been confined to North African immigrants.

The country's large community of Turks, descended from "guestworkers" who came in the 1950s and 1960s, seem largely deaf to radical appeals, as are immigrants from the old Dutch East Indies, now known as Indonesia.

"We're talking about a very small group within a large Muslim community in the Netherlands," said Mr van Hulst.

The presence of a growing "fifth column" on Dutch soil is doubly alarming because the country has been a model of multicultural tolerance.

It has also had the lowest unemployment rate in Europe over recent years, with plentiful jobs that provide a ladder into Dutch society for immigrants willing to assimilate.

Islamophobia and anti-Semitism fuelled by the September 11 attacks and the Middle East conflict are in danger of becoming acceptable in Europe, the European Union's racism watchdog said yesterday.

Presenting its report on racism in the EU, the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia called on leaders of the 15-nation bloc to deal with the underlying social and economic factors it said were fuelling prejudice.

[Cicero]

In the past they were sent to Afghanistan for paramilitary training but now learn the terrorist trade at secret camps in Europe.

So, if the Europeans aren't going to do anything, will the US step in to close down these camps? Maybe our troops in Germany can be of use after all.

Back in 1975 my family and I spent a little time in Amsterdam. Even back then I was amazed by the decadence. It's a far cry from the strict Calvinism of an earlier time.

[Angelus Errare]

These camps wouldn't happen to be in ALBANIA, would they?

Nah, cause we all know that the KLA are all good and just freedom fighters ...

Then again, they could be doing this in the forested areas of Western Europe. But that would require firearms, wouldn't it? I thought the EU had already tried to ban those ...

BTW, Rene, remember this the next time we have a little chat with our favorite Flying Dutchman.

[joesnuffy]

Did they check in Holland Michigan?

[joesnuffy]

It concluded that at least 30 mosques were part of the radical network and posed "a grave and immediate threat" to the constitutional order and survival of Belgian democracy.

Good thing the US branch are moderates

[Cicero]

I don't know if they could get away with it in Bosnia, but it wouldn't surprise me. Albania is a possibility. And I don't think the UN does much to control the Muslims in Kosovo.

[Incorrigible]

Bump

[blam]

Looks like a good time to install some moles.

[Green Knight]

BTW, Rene, remember this the next time we have a little chat with our favorite Flying Dutchman.

but also France and in the future perhaps the Netherlands"

I'll make sure to do the same to him that he did to us on September 11th should that occur. Post a long and thoughtful diatribe about how the Dutch deserved it. I'll call the post something along the lines of "Nero's Violin".

[Angelus Errare]

The KLA has (terrorist) training camps established at Ljabinot, Tropoja, Kuks, and Bajram Curi in northern Albania. These camps are still open post-9/11, and judging from the recruiting clips available from Abu Hamza courtesy of Jeremy Galt, it strikes me that these camps are little different from their Afghan equivalents.

[Angelus Errare]

Indeed. And don't forget to point out that the one politician who tried to change the fact that a lot of these immigrants were trying to bring the sha'riah to Holland instead of being assimilated into Dutch culture was gunned down and demonized as a racist.

The European left would've squawked a different a whole different tune if that cyanide attack had gone off in London a few weeks back and we were now looking at between 200-500 dead Britons. Just look at what happened to the Australians after Bali.

Europe's veneer of arrogance and self-righteous exterior are going to come crashing down the moment al-Qaeda decides to that it's time to fullfill their twisted mandate. Whether or not anything's going to be left to fight them is the real question.

[Destro]

Ooops!! NATO goofed! Blowback time: Dutch intelligence says al Qaeda network recruiting Bosnian Muslim veterans

[Consort]

Beware of Trojan Windmills.

[Green Knight]

Poor Pim Fortuyn. :(

You're right about what you said, though. I don't wish for anyone to be attacked by terrorists. Dutch, Brits, French, etc. But the sad fact is, for most of these morons it'll take nothing less than an attack of 9/11 proportions on their home soil for them to pull their heads out of their asses and realize that something needs to be done about terrorists. Absolutely disgusting that it's come to this. That it'd require the deaths of hundreds of their own citizens for these countries to do something about the problem.

That, btw, is another reason I'm glad Bush is President. From what I understand, even BEFORE 9/11 he had a plan to deal with al-Qaeda. They were developing it and were planning on implementing it. Unlike some of these so-called "leaders", Bush didn't decide to sit around and wait til we got attacked, but rather was preparing to take the fight to them. It just so happened that the terrorists struck BEFORE he had a chance to implement that plan. Point is, though, he had the foresight to recognize the threat to the people of this country BEFORE thousands of people were dead on the ground. That's a lot more then can be said for most of Europe's leaders. Including the "enlightened" multiculturalist rulers of the Netherlands.

[knighthawk]

It won't take long before they will turn against the Dutch. Now it's the US and Israel, so the authorities were not really willing to crack down on them.

9/11 showed that these terrorists will kill off anyone. For a lot of people it was wake-up time.

Also th situation in Belgium scared a lot of people.

It's a shame half of the people (the lefties) are still in denail.

[Gael]

Tropoje, eh?

[Angelus Errare]

Indeed.

I assume that Tropoje is just an alternate spelling of Tropoja, otherwise we can add yet another terrorist training camp to our list.

[steveo]

Great, now we have to worry about wooden shoe bombs.

[Gael]

One and the same.

"Wayward angel." Sounds vaguely Goth. Kewl.