News Agencies

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• Terror threat in the Netherlands ’substantial’

  22 December 2008
  According to Dutch government counter-terrorism chief Tjibbe Joustra, the threat of a terrorist attack in the Netherlands is higher than ever. At present, the threat level rests at its second highest level – «substantial.» Justra, however, said that he believes the level should be set to «substantial plus.» He dies not say what specific threats have lead to this occasion.

• Europe: Islamic groups in Europe condemn Mumbai attacks

  22 December 2008
  The Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE) condemned the «inexcusable and reprehensible» terror attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai. «The Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe reminds of the vital importance of exercising self-restraint, and respect for the principle of peaceful coexistence and harmony in community relations in the multi-ethnic Indian society,» said a statement released by the Organization.

• Police arrest two terrorism suspects

  22 December 2008
  Milan police arrested two Moroccan-born men on charges of plotting attacks against Italian targets. These targets included a supermarket, police barracks, and Milan’s Piazza del Duomo. The two men were said to have no ties to international terrorist groups, but did admire the work of such groups as Al Qaeda.

• Spain acquits 14 accused Islamists

  3 November 2008
  The Spanish Supreme Court overturned convictions against 15 of the 20 men accused of forming an Islamist group plotting to blow up Madrid’s High Court. The ruling found «non-existent the crime of conspiracy to commit a deadly terrorist attack.» Convictions for five of the men were upheld. Thirty suspects were originally arrested four years ago, most of whom were from Algeria and Morocco.

• Arrests during nationwide anti-terror raids

  3 November 2008
  Spanish police arrested 13 men accused of harboring Islamic extremists, including several suspected of having connections to the 2004 Madrid bombings, and helping them flee Spain. The arrests were made in areas near Barcelona, Madrid, and Algeciras. The recent arrests stemmed from an operation three years ago, in 2005, in which Spanish police broke up a cell that allegedly recruited people for suicide attacks against US-led forces in Iraq. At least eight of the detained are of Moroccan origin; details about the others have not been provided

• Dutch court extends prison for 4 terror plotters

  8 October 2008
  The Hague appeals court re-convicted four Dutch nationals of Moroccan descent for plotting attacks on Dutch politicians, and convicted them of the additional charge of membership in a terrorist organization. Both defendants and prosecutors appealed the original 2006 ruling – the defendants asking for acquittal, and the prosecutors sought stricter sentences.

• Five acquitted over Madrid train bombings

  12 August 2008
  A Spanish court overturned the convictions of four people who had been found guilty in connection with the 2005 Madrid bombings. The court overturned a ruling from last year, which found three guilty of being members of an Islamist cell that carried out the attacks. All four of the men were among 21 people convicted in 2007, of being inspired by – but not directed by, Al Qaeda.

• Alleged al-Qaeda-linked Islamists arrested

  29 July 2008
  Spanish police broke up a cell of suspected Islamic militants, and arrested four people accused of fundraising for terrorist activities. The men, all of Algerian origin, were arrested in the southern province of Huelva and the Basque region in the north. Authorities said that the cell had been under investigation since 2005, and was directly linked to Al Qaeda.

• Palestinian hijacker freed in Rome

  16 July 2008
  One of the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro has been released, after serving more than two decades in an Italian jail. Ibrahim Fatayer Abdelatif was one of a group of Palestinian militants who hijacked the ship in 1985. Authorities have ordered Ibrahim to leave Italy, though his lawyer says that he has nowhere to go. Although Ibrahim has officially been expelled from Italy, he cannot leave until he finds another country that will accept him.

• Crown presents strong e-mail evidence in Khawaja case

  2 July 2008
  The strongest evidence in the case of the first man charged under Canada’s antiterrorism act was revealed in court – emails he wrote over the course of a year prior to his arrest. Mohammad Mowin Khawaja, 29, wrote messages to conspirators in Britain referring to detonation devices, routing recruits to a house in Pakistan, as well as ways to send money and night-vision goggles to insurgents in Afghanistan.

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