AMSTERDAM, 17/10/06 - Terrorist suspect Samir Azzouz wanted to kill leftwing as well as rightwing politicians, according to the Public Prosecutor's Office (OM). During the first day of the trial against the so-called Piranha network, the OM yesterday revealed the names of politicians who it said were on a death list.
Azzouz and his five fellow suspects are charged with plans to murder MPs Hirsi Ali, Geert Wilders, Laetitia Griffith, Boris Dittrich and Jan Marijnissen, who leads the Socialist Party (SP). They also allegedly wanted to assassinate Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, Lower House Frans Weisglas and Amsterdam Alderman Ahmed Aboutaleb, whose great-nephew is a suspect in the case. In addition, the group had plans to blow up the headquarters of the secret service AIVD in Leidschendam, said the OM.
The court decided yesterday that the suspects must have access to their full dossiers. They have not been able to access these since they were transferred to another prison. Court president E. Koning warned the OM he would suspend the case if the dossiers were not provided to the suspects. The case should continue tomorrow, with the verdict due on 17 November.
The OM sees Azzouz as the leader of the so-called Piranha network. The 20 year old Dutch-Moroccan had been in court many times, but was repeatedly acquitted due to lack of hard evidence. Thus, he bought the wrong kind of fertiliser for a bomb and was arrested on the way to Chechnya. Following his many acquittals, a school allowed him to take a chemistry course.
The preliminary evidence against Azzouz in the Piranha case includes a video testament, in which he apparently announces a suicide attack and shows a firearm in the background. Last month, bags containing firearms and Arabic texts were discovered by chance in The Hague apartment of fellow suspect Soumaya Sahla. She is unofficially - according to Sharia laws - married to Nouredinne El Fatmi. He is serving a 5-year jail sentence for his prominent role in the Hofstad terrorist group, whose leader Mohammed Bouyeri assassinated Islam-critic Theo van Gogh.
