Islam in Europe: Present Challenges | November 10, 2004

A police anti-terror operation in The Hague has ended with the arrest of two suspects after a violent 14-hour siege, Dutch officials say.
Three police officers were wounded in a grenade explosion earlier during the raid. Two of them remain in hospital.

One of the suspects held was injured in the shoulder, officials said.

Earlier, a Muslim school in Uden was burned down - part of a spate of attacks after the murder of film-maker Theo van Gogh, a critic of Islam.

Attacks have targeted Christian and Muslim buildings across the Netherlands.

Dutch NOS public television reported that police sent remote-controlled devices into the apartment in The Hague to check for explosives.

Dutch media also reported that a third suspect had been arrested in Utrecht as part of the same investigation.

Van Gogh, murdered in Amsterdam a week ago, had received death threats after the release of his latest film controversially portraying domestic violence in Muslim societies. It showed images of a semi-naked woman with Koranic script daubed on her body.

Six suspects, believed to be members of an Islamic militant group, remain in custody, including the alleged killer, 26-year-old Mohammed Bouyeri, who holds dual Dutch and Moroccan nationality.

Terror alert

The area where the Hague raid took place - near the Holland Spoor train station - was sealed off and airspace immediately over it was closed.

"At the moment of assault, a hand grenade was thrown at the arrest team," said Hague Police Chief Gerard Bouwman. "It exploded and several officers were hurt."

The building was surrounded by police in riot gear, fire engines, ambulances and special forces.

Police evacuated neighbours and they were bussed to local shelters.

Mr Bouwman said one of the injured police officers had been briefly treated and sent home to rest, while the other two remained in hospital, with one seriously wounded.

"No vital organs were hurt, but he suffered considerable injuries," he said.

Mr Bouwman earlier confirmed that police and the suspects had exchanged gunfire.

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende told parliament that extremism was undermining democracy.

"We cannot let ourselves be blinded by people who seek to drag us into a spiral of violence," he said, according to the Associated Press news agency.

"It is the joint task of Muslims and non-Muslims to warn young people against radicalisation".

Dutch warning to EU

The Dutch Immigration Minister, Rita Verdonk, has warned that EU countries are at risk, because of an increasing radicalism among young Muslims.

She said member states must act urgently to improve the integration of foreigners.

The minister, whose nation holds the EU presidency, said countries must ensure that immigrants learn the local language and accept Western values, but she said the EU also needed to develop, in her words, a common vision of integration.

Last week EU leaders agreed to create a common asylum system by 2010 to try to prevent illegal immigration into the EU.

taken from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3998347.stm

Posted by admin at November 10, 2004 05:21 PM