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| Europe |
| Dutch newlyweds viewed al-Qaeda videos, plotted to kill politicians |
| 2005-12-06 |
| ON the night of her wedding, Malika Shabi watched al-Qaida videos of beheadings and listened to her partner rail against Dutch politicians he wanted to kill, according to a police statement read in court yesterday. But the 17-year-old girl sat stone-faced and silent when called to affirm the statement in court and to testify against her ex- partner and 13 other men at the opening of their trial, in the largest terrorism case to date in the Netherlands. The defendants, mostly Dutch-born children of North African immigrants, are accused of belonging to a terrorist group that plotted to attack politicians. They include Mohammed Bouyeri, already sentenced to life in prison for the November 2004 murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh. Two defendants face additional charges related to a clash with police in which one of them threw a hand grenade that injured three officers. Lawyers for the men say they are religious youths, innocent of wrongdoing. Prosecutors allege the men attended cult-like meetings at Bouyeri's home under the guidance of a Syrian spiritual leader who fled the country shortly before Van Gogh's murder. Evidence against them includes copies of the letter left on Van Gogh's body, handbooks on ritual Islamic murders, suicide testaments and tapped telephone conversations about slaying non-believers like sacrificial lambs. After several acquittals in other prominent cases, the trial of the so-called Hofstad network will be a test for new Dutch laws outlawing membership in terrorist groups, making it easier to prosecute extremists. It is also seen as evidence of the threat Europe faces from homegrown radicals. Prosecutor Koos Plooy suggested that Shabi who even refused to confirm her name had been silenced by a letter warning her not to speak to police or non-believers. "May Allah lead you or break your back," Plooy quoted the letter as saying. Shabi, shrouded in black robes and a pink head scarf, did not respond as presiding Judge A De Boer read parts of her August 30 statement to police. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #2 Death pr0n ... coming soon to Amsterdam Spectravision. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-12-06 09:19 |
| #1 Fun honeymoon...fun couple. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-12-06 09:03 |