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10-11-04, 12:56
3 Dutch Police Officers Are Wounded in Raid
November 10, 2004
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:57 a.m. ET
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- Suspects holed up in a house
under police assault Wednesday threw a hand grenade,
injuring three officers conducting the terrorism-related
raid.
Authorities closed air space for small planes over the city
as part of the operation.
Hague Chief Prosecutor Han Moraal said the raid was part of
a ``continuing investigation into terrorism,'' but would
not confirm whether it was related to the Nov. 2 killing of
filmmaker Theo van Gogh by an alleged Islamic radical.
Suspects were still inside the building, Hague Police Chief
Gerard Bouwman said at a press conference, and confirmed
that police and the suspects had exchanged gunfire.
``At the moment of assault, a hand grenade was thrown at
the arrest team,'' Bouwman said. ``It exploded and several
officers were hurt.''
Mayor Wim Deetman said negotiators were trying to end the
standoff peacefully.
Several city blocks were cordoned off in a mostly immigrant
neighborhood near The Hague's Holland Spoor train station.
The building was surrounded by police in riot gear, fire
engines, ambulances and SWAT teams.
Bouwman said one of the injured police officers had been
briefly treated and sent home, while the other two remained
hospitalized, one with serious injuries.
``No vital organs were hurt, but he suffered considerable
injuries,'' Bouwman said.
Sylvia Cordia, 42, who lives across the street from the
house, said she saw several explosions.
``I saw one policeman crumble to the ground and another was
dragged away to safety,'' she said, adding that the
suspects shouted threats in broken Dutch when the police
asked them to surrender.
``There were several people in the house, and I heard a man
yelling 'I'll chop your head off' and yelling
profanities,'' she said.
Photographers captured images of a man of Asian descent
wearing only boxer shorts being dragged from the building
and escorted away, but police would not confirm the
apparent arrest.
There have been more than a dozen arson attacks in the
Netherlands against churches and mosques since Van Gogh's
killing in Amsterdam more than a week ago. An Islamic
school in Eindhoven was bombed Monday night, and another in
Uden was burned down Tuesday. No injuries were reported.
Van Gogh had received death threats after the release of
his most recent film about the treatment of women under
Islam.
Six suspects, believed to be members of a terrorist group,
are being held in custody, including the alleged killer,
26-year-old Mohammed Bouyeri, who holds dual Dutch and
Moroccan nationality.
Prime Minister Balkenende said he was ``concerned about the
hardening climate in the Netherlands'' and condemned the
cycle of reprisals.
``We have to utterly reject this violence, all together,
because we're being un-Dutch,'' he said.
November 10, 2004
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:57 a.m. ET
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- Suspects holed up in a house
under police assault Wednesday threw a hand grenade,
injuring three officers conducting the terrorism-related
raid.
Authorities closed air space for small planes over the city
as part of the operation.
Hague Chief Prosecutor Han Moraal said the raid was part of
a ``continuing investigation into terrorism,'' but would
not confirm whether it was related to the Nov. 2 killing of
filmmaker Theo van Gogh by an alleged Islamic radical.
Suspects were still inside the building, Hague Police Chief
Gerard Bouwman said at a press conference, and confirmed
that police and the suspects had exchanged gunfire.
``At the moment of assault, a hand grenade was thrown at
the arrest team,'' Bouwman said. ``It exploded and several
officers were hurt.''
Mayor Wim Deetman said negotiators were trying to end the
standoff peacefully.
Several city blocks were cordoned off in a mostly immigrant
neighborhood near The Hague's Holland Spoor train station.
The building was surrounded by police in riot gear, fire
engines, ambulances and SWAT teams.
Bouwman said one of the injured police officers had been
briefly treated and sent home, while the other two remained
hospitalized, one with serious injuries.
``No vital organs were hurt, but he suffered considerable
injuries,'' Bouwman said.
Sylvia Cordia, 42, who lives across the street from the
house, said she saw several explosions.
``I saw one policeman crumble to the ground and another was
dragged away to safety,'' she said, adding that the
suspects shouted threats in broken Dutch when the police
asked them to surrender.
``There were several people in the house, and I heard a man
yelling 'I'll chop your head off' and yelling
profanities,'' she said.
Photographers captured images of a man of Asian descent
wearing only boxer shorts being dragged from the building
and escorted away, but police would not confirm the
apparent arrest.
There have been more than a dozen arson attacks in the
Netherlands against churches and mosques since Van Gogh's
killing in Amsterdam more than a week ago. An Islamic
school in Eindhoven was bombed Monday night, and another in
Uden was burned down Tuesday. No injuries were reported.
Van Gogh had received death threats after the release of
his most recent film about the treatment of women under
Islam.
Six suspects, believed to be members of a terrorist group,
are being held in custody, including the alleged killer,
26-year-old Mohammed Bouyeri, who holds dual Dutch and
Moroccan nationality.
Prime Minister Balkenende said he was ``concerned about the
hardening climate in the Netherlands'' and condemned the
cycle of reprisals.
``We have to utterly reject this violence, all together,
because we're being un-Dutch,'' he said.