Terrorist leader was informant 03/03/2008 00:00

Abdelkader Belliraj, the suspected terrorist leader who was arrested in Morocco last week is said to have been a paid informant of the Belgian national intelligence service.

Abdelkader Belliraj, the suspected terrorist leader who was arrested in Morocco last week along with 34 others is said to have been a paid informant of the Belgian national intelligence service for years. Justice minister Jo Vandeurzen (Flemish Christian democrat) has called for an inquiry.

Mr Belliraj is currently in a Moroccan cell under suspicion of terrorist activities. He is facing a life sentence in his native country and on Thursday was officially accused of heading a terrorist organisation.

According to the Moroccan authorities, Mr Belliraj confessed to having committed 6 murders in Belgium.

Yesterday, news broke that for several years Mr Belliraj worked as an informant for the Belgian intelligence services.

Extremely embarrassing, especially since the state security police didn’t have a clue about Mr Belliraj’s other activities.

Abdelkader Belliraj, who lived in Evergem, a town just north of Ghent, is said to have been an occasional informant who was paid in return for tip-offs.

In defence of the intelligence service, Flemish Christian democrat senator Hugo Vandenberghe said they weren’t supposed to know since all details on secret informants are supposed to be just that, a secret.

Justice minister Jo Vandeurzen (Flemish Christian democrat) reacted by promising that he would order an investigation into the working of the Belgian security services. Investigations such as these are usually led by the so-called 'Committee I'. On Monday, a special Belgian investigation team is to leave for Morocco to double check the information.

Meanwhile, the speaker of the Senate, Armand De Decker (French speaking liberal) has called for caution when reporting on Mr Belliraj and his alleged role as a secret agent. According to Mr De Decker, the information may have been released to embarrass the security service.

flandersnews.be