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December 31, 2004

Dutch spy chief says warnings of militancy ignored

Topics: War on Terror - the issues.

From Reuters via Dhimmi Watch...

"Nowadays young, second- or third-generation Moroccans don't see themselves as Moroccans anymore, but also not as Dutch. In the search for an identity, they decide that they are just Muslims and nothing else."

That's what the Dutch spy chief said as he accused politicians of ignoring intelligence warnings about rising Islamic militancy.

AMSTERDAM, Dec 31 (Reuters) - The Dutch spy chief has accused politicians of ignoring intelligence warnings about rising Islamic militancy in his first newspaper interview since the murder of a Dutch filmmaker critical of Islam.

"I was always surprised that politicians did not sound the alarm in reaction to our annual reports," the head of the country's main AIVD agency, Sybrand van Hulst, told the Friday edition of Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad....

Van Hulst said the agency had warned that integration of immigrants was failing and that foreign powers sought to influence religious communities in the Netherlands.

"In 2000 we said in our annual report that our society was facing increasing pressure. That is a very severe thing to say. But no word from the politicians. That really amazed me."

"Politicians now realise that tougher laws were necessary," he said, but warned that measures against radical Muslims alone would not solve the problem.

"We must make sure that Muslims feel welcome here, that they integrate, that they accept the identity of the country where they live," he said.

The Netherlands is home to about 1 million Muslims, or 6 percent of the population.

Van Hulst said young Muslims were especially vulnerable to the appeal for radical Islam.

"Nowadays young, second- or third-generation Moroccans don't see themselves as Moroccans anymore, but also not as Dutch. In the search for an identity, they decide that they are just Muslims and nothing else."

Posted by Hyscience at December 31, 2004 11:10 PM

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