Muslim men arrested in van Gogh murder part of militant group

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- Dutch authorities have confirmed that 13 young Muslims arrested on terrorism charges in the Netherlands after the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh are members of a radical Islamic group with international links and a Syrian-born spiritual leader.

Dutch intelligence calls the group the "Hofstad Netwerk," and a Justice Ministry official says 43-year-old Syrian Redouan al-Issar, the alleged spiritual leader, has disappeared without a trace.

Van Gogh was ritually slaughtered on an Amsterdam street Nov. 2, apparently for criticizing Islam. His killing set off a wave of reprisals -- attacks on more than 20 Islamic sites in the Netherlands, including a mosque that was gutted by fire early Saturday.

Van Gogh's alleged killer, 26-year-old Mohammed Bouyeri of Amsterdam was arrested in a shootout with police minutes after the filmmaker died of gunshot wounds and a slit throat. Bouyeri had a will in his pocket saying he was prepared to die for Islamic jihad, or holy war.

In the days that followed, the government has come under pressure to release details about Islamic radicals and terrorist recruiting in the Netherlands.

In a letter and notes sent to parliament Thursday, Interior Minister Johan Remkes, who oversees the secret service, said the Hofstad Network, composed mostly of young Dutch Muslims of North African ancestry, has links to networks in Spain and Belgium; that several members of the group have traveled to Pakistan for training; and that its members were under the influence of al-Issar for many years.

"The number of persons and networks in the Netherlands that thinks and acts in terms of actual violence is, in our opinion, limited," he wrote. "But the feeding ground from which they spring, is broader ... It's better to think in terms of thousands than hundreds."

Al-Issar went by several names, including "Abu Kaled," the Justice Ministry official said. The same name is used by al-Qaida fugitive Muhammad Bahaiah, a courier between Osama bin Laden and European cells.

Al-Issar had sought asylum in Germany beginning in 1995, but has not been seen there since May 2004, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

Remkes said the Dutch secret service realized in the spring of 2003 that al-Issar was "a leading figure" who preached at fundamentalist gatherings at Bouyeri's Amsterdam home.

The Dutch secret service has been shadowing as many as 200 potential terrorists since the Sept. 11 attacks, but Bouyeri wasn't among them.

The Dutch cell began showing "conspiratorial behavior" in 2003 and a number of members traveled to Pakistan, probably for training, Remkes said.

The Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad identified one as 19-year-old Jason W. -- one of two terrorism suspects arrested in The Hague Wednesday after a standoff with police -- as having twice gone to Pakistan for training. The newspaper cited a document leaked by the Dutch secret service.

Remkes said members also received orders from "Abdeladim Akoudad, who was suspected by the Moroccan government of involvement in the attacks on Casablanca."

Akoudad was arrested near Barcelona in October 2003 at Morocco's request for the Casablanca suicide bombings that killed 32 in May 2003. Spanish officials confirm links between him and at least one of the six suspects held in the Netherlands in Van Gogh's killing.

Akoudad's arrest prompted the arrest of five suspects in the Netherlands on Oct. 19, 2003, including 18-year-old Samir Azzouz, identified as a key member of the Dutch cell. The group "was planning a violent attack in the Netherlands or Europe," Remkes said.

Azzouz was found with bomb making materials but released for lack of evidence. He was arrested again in June 2004 and is now awaiting trial on terrorism charges in Rotterdam. Investigators found plans of a Dutch airport and nuclear reactor at his home.

Azzouz is also being charged for attempted robbery with Ismail. B, who Dutch media said received bomb making training in Pakistan.