Dutch arrest seven for preparing terrorist attacks
india-defence.com
AFP 14/10/2005
The Dutch police arrested seven people suspected of planning terrorist attacks, as police sealed off government buildings in The Hague and carried out several raids in the city.
The suspects, six men and a woman, were arrested in The Hague, Amsterdam and nearby Almere, the national prosecutor's office said in a statement.
The main suspect according to the authorities is 19-year-old Samir Azzouz, who in April this year was acquitted of charges of planning terrorist attacks because of insufficient evidence. The prosecution has appealed the ruling.
"Information of the AIVD intelligence service showed that (Azzouz) was trying to get automatic firearms and explosives. He is suspected of preparing attacks, together with other persons, on several politicians and government buildings," the national prosecutor's office said.
In The Hague the government buildings were sealed off by police but the regular Friday afternoon meeting of the cabinet was going ahead as planned with the ministers present.
Dutch national public Radio 1 said the police had also sealed off a school and a road in a central area of The Hague.
The station said witnesses reported hearing shots on the road, which were not identified.
The suspects, including Azzouz, were to appear in court Monday in Rotterdam for a procedural hearing to see if they can be remanded in custody. With the exception of Samir Azzouz, the national prosecutor's office declined to identify the other suspects other that to give their age as between 18 and 30 years old. |
