Three Muslims arrested in Baku for jihad recruitment

Six people, including one woman, have been arrested in the Netherlands. Apprehended in The Hague and Amsterdam late on Monday and early Tuesday, their arrests came as a result of an investigation into an Islamic terror network which had been launched in November last year. Police became alerted after AIVD, the Dutch intelligence service, heard of three men from the Hague who wanted to participate in jihad.

Three of the individuals are said to have traveled to Azerbaijan where they undertook terrorist training. Arrested in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, they were sent back to the Netherlands under police escort, and allowed to return to their homes prior to their arrests. Later in the week, the six are expected to appear before a judge, who will decide if they should be remanded in custody.

A police statement claimed: "Some of the suspects are believed to have been trying to obtain false travel documents for Iraq. National investigators are trying to establish whether they formed a terror organization."

Currently, a major terror trial is taking place in the high security Amsterdam-Osdorp court, involving five men and a women. Four of these were arrested last October in Amsterdam, the Hague and Almere in what is known as "operation Piranha". Their trial began on October 16.

The most well-known of those on trial is Samir Azzouz, a 20-year old of Moroccan descent who was earlier tried in Rotterdam, after he was found in 2005 to be in possession of machine gun cartridges, a bullet-proof vest, two fake bombs, a silencer and maps. Azzouz was convicted of possessing illegal arms. A further charge, that of plotting to attack public buildings, fell through. Having spent time in jail, his three month sentence was considered "used up". He was acquitted on April 6, 2006.

Azzouz had first come to the attention of Dutch authorities after he had traveled to Chechnya to fight in the "jihad" there in 2003. He had been refused entry to the Russian republic but had been closely monitored since then.

On Friday October 20, the court was told that Azzouz and an individual called Nourridine El Fatmi had wanted to obtain materials from Germany in summer 2005 to make a bomb belt. This was to be used in a suicide attack in the Netherlands. El Fatmi had been sentenced on March 10 this year to a five year jail term, for ossessing a submachine gun in Amsterdam in June 2005.

Azzouz and El Fatmi were members of the Hofstad Group, a terror cell whose spiritual leader is a Syrian. The trial heard that this mentor had said attacks upon the Netherlands were permitted because the Dutch had given support to the US.

Nourridine El Fatmi's wife Soumaya was arrested after guns were found in the cellar of the housing complex where she lived in Amsterdam, on Monday September 4. The guns were a Czech-made CZ Scorpion 61 submachine gun and a Smith & Wesson handgun. Two ammunition clips and 300 conical tipped bullets for the submachine pistol were also discovered. Both Soumaya S and Nourridine El Fatmi are on trial with Azzouz. The CZ Scorpion 61 submachine gun bears similarities to the gun which can be seen behind Samir Azzouz in his notorious "farewell video". When AIVD found this video in a surveillance operation, the arrests of Azzouz and his associates took place on October 14 last year. The video was broadcast by NOVA TV on Septembeer 15 this month. Azzouz spoke in Arabic, and made reference to an "act" which he had done. It was assumed by AIVD that this was an attack. He said on the video: "You crusaders support Bush when he said: Let the crusades begin. So we speak the language of the sword until you leave Muslims in peace." On Monday (November 6), the public prosoecutor told the court that he wants a 16-year jail term to be imposed upon Azzouz and one of his co-accused, an individual named only as Mohamed C. He has also demanded that Nourridine El Fatmi and Soumaya S be given jail terms of 10 years. The prosecutor said that five of the six defendants had plotted an attack upon the headquarters of AIVD. These five were all accused of illegal possession of weapons.

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