Joesoef
08-11-04, 09:53
Dutch Widen Probe
Of Filmmaker's Murder
By DAVID CRAWFORD and KEITH JOHNSON
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
November 8, 2004; Page A12
Dutch police are investigating links between the murder of a Dutch filmmaker and a larger Islamist campaign to silence critics in the Netherlands.
At the same time, police have widened their investigation into the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh to include members of the Takfir wal Hijra movement, an extreme Islamist ideology that requires its adherents to kill non-Muslims, according to a Dutch intelligence official.
Dutch investigators believe the suspects in Mr. van Gogh's killing had contact with extremists in Spain, and that the order to kill Mr. van Gogh, who had worked on a film that criticized the treatment of women under Islam, may have come from a fugitive terrorist in Spain.
Recent investigations in Spain have uncovered links between Islamist extremists throughout Europe. Spanish investigators say they are awaiting information from their Dutch counterparts that could clarify the relationship between a Dutch cell and extremists in Spain and other European countries.
Dutch police believe the suspects are part of a group of about 150 Muslim men who have been under observation by a unit of the intelligence service monitoring Muslim extremists in the Netherlands since 2001.
Evidence that Mr. van Gogh's death was part of a wider campaign of Islamist extremism emerged over the weekend.
Police last week quietly granted protection to Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders, who among other people was named in a note pinned by the knife stabbed into Mr. van Gogh. Mr. Wilders has campaigned for legislation that would end nonprofit-organization status for extremist mosques.
Police have granted protection to other critics believed to be threatened.
Mr. Wilders said threats against his life began in February and increased in the past two weeks. Before Tuesday's attack, investigators assumed the threats were the work of a handful of isolated extremists, but now believe more are involved. "This appears to be a coordinated effort," Mr. Wilders said.
Of Filmmaker's Murder
By DAVID CRAWFORD and KEITH JOHNSON
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
November 8, 2004; Page A12
Dutch police are investigating links between the murder of a Dutch filmmaker and a larger Islamist campaign to silence critics in the Netherlands.
At the same time, police have widened their investigation into the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh to include members of the Takfir wal Hijra movement, an extreme Islamist ideology that requires its adherents to kill non-Muslims, according to a Dutch intelligence official.
Dutch investigators believe the suspects in Mr. van Gogh's killing had contact with extremists in Spain, and that the order to kill Mr. van Gogh, who had worked on a film that criticized the treatment of women under Islam, may have come from a fugitive terrorist in Spain.
Recent investigations in Spain have uncovered links between Islamist extremists throughout Europe. Spanish investigators say they are awaiting information from their Dutch counterparts that could clarify the relationship between a Dutch cell and extremists in Spain and other European countries.
Dutch police believe the suspects are part of a group of about 150 Muslim men who have been under observation by a unit of the intelligence service monitoring Muslim extremists in the Netherlands since 2001.
Evidence that Mr. van Gogh's death was part of a wider campaign of Islamist extremism emerged over the weekend.
Police last week quietly granted protection to Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders, who among other people was named in a note pinned by the knife stabbed into Mr. van Gogh. Mr. Wilders has campaigned for legislation that would end nonprofit-organization status for extremist mosques.
Police have granted protection to other critics believed to be threatened.
Mr. Wilders said threats against his life began in February and increased in the past two weeks. Before Tuesday's attack, investigators assumed the threats were the work of a handful of isolated extremists, but now believe more are involved. "This appears to be a coordinated effort," Mr. Wilders said.