{UAH} WHY ARE TERRORISTS DRAWN TO BELGIUM?

Friends

 

There are many news sources out there, actually including CNN that are reporting that The Bataclan theater that was targeted in Friday night's Paris terror attack was Jewish-owned, it is important to understand that at the time of the attack of this theater, that resulted into about 80 deaths, the theater was no longer owned by the Jewish family. The theater was actually sold off to a none Jewish company in September.

 

Let us kindly set that record straight.

 

EM

On the 49^th Parallel          

                 Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in anarchy"
                    Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni katika machafuko"

From: ugandans-at-heart@googlegroups.com [mailto:ugandans-at-heart@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Herrn Edward Mulindwa
Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2015 5:29 PM
To: ugandans-at-heart@googlegroups.com; UGANDACOM@yahoogroups.com
Subject: {UAH} WHY ARE TERRORISTS DRAWN TO BELGIUM?

 

Why are terrorists drawn to Belgium?

Kristof Clerix

Loud bangs during Brussels police raids for Paris attack suspects – video

Tuesday 17 November 2015 12.11 GMTLast modified on Tuesday 17 November 201518.51 GMT

search 20 years ago, Belgian policemen investigating the Algerian GIA network discovered an Arabic document. Page one had a dedication to al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden. It was the first jihad manual ever found in Europe. The GIA was only one of many terrorist organisations to put down roots in Belgium. Over the past few decades the country has turned out to be a platform for Action Directe, the Red Army Faction, Eta, the IRA and several other terrorist groups.

The importance of Belgium for global terrorism became even clearer on 9 September 2001. Two days before the attacks on the Twin Towers, in northern Afghanistan, commander Ahmed Shah Massoud – the last man standing against the Taliban – was killed by two terrorists who had entered Afghanistan with Belgian passports.

Other recent terrorist events can be traced back to the Belgian capital. Mehdi Nemmouche, who in May 2014 killed four people in the Jewish Museum in Brussels, had been staying in the suburb of Molenbeek. Early in 2015 in the Belgian town of Verviers the Belgian police dismantled a terrorist group with links to Molenbeek. Ayoub el-Khazzani, who in August 2015 was planning to attack the Thalys train service from Amsterdam to Paris, got on the train in Brussels after staying in Molenbeek.

 Abdelhamid Abaaoud – reportedly one of Islamic State's most active operators and suspected of being behind Friday's attacks in Paris – is from the Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. Photograph: Reuters

The reasons why Belgium is attractive to terrorists are diverse. First there is its strategic location between France, Germany and the UK. In two hours one can cross Belgium by car, and because Belgium is part of the Schengen area its outside borders are open, making it extremely easy for terrorists to enter and leave the country quickly.

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Second, the anonymity of Belgium's capital appears to offer an ideal hiding place, with some sympathisers for the terrorist struggle – individuals, not communities – willing to give a helping hand to plotters. The fact that the name of Molenbeek turns up so often is obviously worrying.

Molenbeek – one of Brussels' 19 districts– has a population of about 100,000, with around 30% of foreign nationality and more than 40% with foreign roots. Unemployment is higher than 25%, with youth unemployment even higher. Young inhabitants, often with Muslim backgrounds, do not get the same chances in the labour or housing market, and testify how in their everyday lives they are confronted with racism. They have the perfect profile to be prone to radicalisation. If the Belgian state had put more effort into integrating migrant communities, the potential for radicalisation would be significantly smaller today.

Third, the Islamic experience in Belgium has characteristics that differ from other European countries. There is a lack of local imams; most of the imams have been imported from abroad or educated there. Belgian security services point to an important religious influence from Wahhabi Islam, "sponsored" by Saudi Arabia through the Grand Mosque in Brussels.

The disregard of the Belgian political world for intelligence have allowed terrorist groups to proliferate

Fourth, Brussels has the reputation for being a place where you can easily buy illegal firearms. The fact that the city has no fewer than six different police zones makes the fight against illegal arms trafficking and other forms of organised crime cumbersome and inefficient.

Last, Belgium has a relatively small security apparatus. Although Brussels is the diplomatic capital of the world, Belgian state security only has some 600 employees (the exact figure is classified information). Its military counterpart, Adiv, has a similar number. That makes just over a thousand intelligence officers to secure a country that hosts not only Nato and the EU institutions but also the World Customs Organisation, the European Economic Area, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift), the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol), another 2,500 international agencies, 2,000 international companies and 150 international law firms.

One does not need to be 007 to understand that the security challenge is huge – not only taking into account terrorism but also espionage and cybercrime. The disregard of the Belgian political world for intelligence and the lack of an intelligence culture have allowed terrorist groups to proliferate.

 I was held hostage by Isis. They fear our unity more than our airstrikes

Nicolas Hénin

 

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More than 250 Belgians have left the country to fight alongside jihadis in Syria and Iraq; about 75 have died in combat and 125 have returned. According to theInternational Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, Belgium has the highest rate of foreign fighters per capita of all Europe.

Belgium's anti-terrorism organisation Ocad has a "consolidated list" of more than 800 people who are on the radar of the Belgian intelligence services in relation to foreign terrorist fighters. Yesterday, two well-informed sources within the Belgian security services independently confirmed to me that two of theAbdeslam brothers currently being investigated in relation to the Paris attacks and Bilal Hadfi, the suicide bomber at the Stade de France, were on that list. The question is why this information could not prevent the attacks in Paris. Standing Committee I, which controls the Belgian intelligence services on behalf of the government, has announced an official investigation. Meanwhile, the citizens of Belgium cross their fingers.

 

 

EM

On the 49^th Parallel          

                 Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in anarchy"
                    Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni katika machafuko"

 

 

 

 

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