Belgium becomes Terror Hotbed of Europe

http://www.newsbharati.com/ Belgium becomes Terror Hotbed of Europe.

How Belgium Became a Terrorism Hotbed

For the past year, terrorist plot after terrorist plot has been tied back to Belgium. How did this tiny nation become ground zero?

AMSTERDAM — As the race to discover how terrorists managed to carry out such devastating attacks in Paris continues, the focus has shifted to France’s little neighbor, Belgium, as a hotbed of terrorist conspiracies. And this isn't the first time.

Today the Belgian authorities announced two of the identified terrorists involved in the Paris attacks were French citizens living in Belgium. They are part of a trio of brothers. The first, called Ibrahim Abdelslam, killed himself in Paris using an explosive belt. A second was arrested by the Belgian police in Molenbeek, a multi-ethnic neighborhood in central Brussels. He is being questioned and it is uncertain if he was involved. The third is Salah Abdelslam, 26, who is on the run with an international arrest warrant issued for him. “There is a link to Molenbeek,” Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said. “We are focused on prevention but we need to act repressively, too.”

The prime minister promised the Belgian people extra measures against jihadists returning to Belgium from the Syrian and Iraqi battlefields. Knowing the scale of the Belgian problem, implementing the right measures is paramount, not just for the Belgians themselves but also for their neighboring countries.



With increasing frequency, links are uncovered between jihadist operations and Belgian terrorist cells, raising serious questions about the Belgian government’s ability to deal with terrorists who use the country for recruiting and support networks.



Belgium, wedged in between Germany, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, and France, has brought forth a disproportionate amount of jihadists. “The maximum number of Belgians who at one point were active in Syria or Iraq has climbed to 516,” Belgian Arabist and author Pieter van Ostaeyen said on his blog last month. Van Ostayen has been keeping a close eye on developments within Belgian minority groups vulnerable to radicalization. The number of jihadists, put into context, becomes quite alarming. “This number means that out of Belgium’s Muslim population of about 640,000 individuals, there is roughly one per 1,260 who has been involved in jihad in Syria and Iraq. At this point Belgium is, per capita, by far the European nation contributing the most to the foreign element in the Syrian war.”



Belgium is a small country with, sometimes, big problems. It even went without a cohesive government for a record 541 days in 2010 and 2011. Being a largely divided Flemish/French-speaking society to begin with, it had problems integrating its newcomers. Its second- and third- generation immigrants on average made little socio-economic progress, or had little chance to do so. Meanwhile, the security services in the city of Brussels have another significant issue: for a population of 1.3 million inhabitants, the local police force is divided up in six police corps spread over 19 boroughs. Sharing security information in that setting could only be complicated.



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In connection to Friday’s attacks in Paris, seven suspects were arrested in that Brussels municipality of St Jans Molenbeek on Saturday. “In the direct surroundings of one of the attacks, specifically the Bataclan, a Belgian vehicle was found, with Belgian registration, which had been rented in Belgium,” federal police spokesperson Eric van der Sypt said on Belgian National News. “Based on that information we were able to do the searches and make the arrests.”



According to the Belgian press, inside the car a parking ticket for Molenbeek was found. Yesterday and today, house searches took place in the area. Near a subway station (Ossegem) the Belgian police blocked off a street and special forces searched a car. One suspect who tried to escape was chased, stopped, and arrested.



The person who rented one of the cars used in the Paris attacks was seen crossing the French border yesterday morning. French Public prosecutor François Molins told the press: “We know the car was rented by a French man who lived in Belgium. This morning the man was checked at the Belgian border, in another car, so not the Seat nor the Polo in which two other persons were present, who also lived in Brussels.”



Those men reportedly were arrested by the Belgian police later that day in connection to the Paris attacks. One of the men is said to be the brother of the man who rented the car and is an ex-Syria jihadist and he too rented a car that may be have been used in the Friday attacks.