BELGIUM ARRESTS FOURTEEN SUSPECTED TERRORISTS

UNCLAS BRUSSELS 001870 SIPDIS STATE PASS EUR/WE AND S/CT E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER PGOV AF PA BE SUBJECT: BELGIUM ARRESTS FOURTEEN SUSPECTED TERRORISTS ¶1. (U) Belgian police arrested December 11 fourteen terrorist suspects, according to press reporting. A total of 242 police officers conducted a series of sixteen raids in Brussels and one in the Francophone city of Liege. According to the Belgian prosecutors office, the suspects were linked to a Belgian Islamist group involved in training and fighting along the Pakistan border, and were in communication with important figures in Al Qaeda. ¶2. (U) In his press statement, Belgian Prosecutor Johan Delmulle said the target of the planned terrorist attack was unknown, but could have been in Pakistan, Afghanistan, or a European target, such as the December 11-12 European Union Summit being held in Brussels. Delmulle stated that one of the suspects had received a green light to carry out an operation, and had already said good-bye to his loved ones. The information that an attack of some sort was imminent, coupled with the start of the European Summit spurred the police to make the arrests. ¶3. (U) During the December 11 press conference, Brussels Police Director Glenn Audenart said the group had been identified a year ago. The federal prosecutor's office called the investigation one of the most important anti-terrorism operation in Belgium, claiming that it likely prevented an attack from being carried out in Brussels. ¶4. (U) One of the fourteen suspects arrested, Malika El-Aroud, runs several jihadist websites and is an icon in the radical Islamist community. She is the widow of one of the Belgian-nationals who committed suicide to kill Afghan General Massood's September 9, 2001. ¶5. (U) In a joint statement Justice Minister Jo Vanderuzen and Interior Minister Patrick Dewael congratulated the security services on a job well done. Referring to last December's terror alert, the two minister pointed out that today's arrests vindicated the security service assessment that a threat existed last year. ¶6. (U) Comment: Belgian Federal Police received some vindication today by making arrests after a year long investigation. The Federal Police were widely panned in the media and criticized for the heightened terrorist alert that canceled seasonal festivities last December. It turns out there was a reason for concern, as today's arrests show. It is now clear that Belgian authorities are able to investigate and pursue terrorists on Belgian soil. FOX .