1 December 2005

BRUSSELS — The partners of several suspected terrorists being detained in Belgium are ready to carry out suicide attacks in Morocco, it was reported on Thursday.

The claim was made in a police statement by Mohamed Reha, a Belgian of Moroccan ancestry who was arrested in Morocco earlier this month. News agency AFP has obtained a copy of the statement.
 
Reha studied at a Koran school in Syria but was deported at the age of 18 in June 2005 and returned to Belgium, Flemish newspaper 'De Standaard' reported.

In Belgium, he allegedly received a telephone call from the wife of a man identified as Rachid Iba. "She asked me to come to Brussels. We agreed to meet in a [train] station," Reha told Moroccan police.

"She told me that many Muslim women whose husbands were arrested in Belgium would like to become involved in Jihad, the holy war. She asked me to help them by finding someone to train them and supply them with explosives."

Reha emphasised that the conversation was conducted via small notes. He confessed to promising the woman he would do everything possible to help the women succeed.

Later, Reha informed the Algerian Khalid Abou Bassir — who he claims is the co-ordinator of terror network al-Qaeda in Europe — about the plans. Reha also told Rachid Iba that Abou Bassir would become the leader of the female suicide bombers.

Reha then departed for the Netherlands where he met Samir Azzouz, who was recently acquitted by the appeals court in The Hague for terrorist activities.

Azzouz allegedly said he was prepared to co-operate in a suicide attack against the Dutch intelligence services. Reha then offered the services of the female suicide bombers, but Azzouz is said to have refused the offer because he only wanted men to carry out the attack.

On 28 September, Reha departed for Morocco where he was arrested in November with 16 other suspects. They are accused of planning attacks against US and Israeli targets in Morocco.

Meanwhile, the federal public prosecution office in Belgium said on Thursday morning, five of the 14 suspects arrested in the anti-terror sweeps in various Belgian cities on Tuesday night have been remanded in custody.

They are accused of breaching terrorism laws, forgery and using forged documents.

The raids in Brussels, Antwerp, Riemst and Charleroi were carried out after reports emerged on Tuesday that a Belgian woman had carried out a suicide attack in the vicinity of the Iraqi capital Baghdad on 9 November.

[Copyright Expatica News 2005]

Subject: Belgian news