Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
BRUSSELS, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Investigators probing a suicide bombing
by a Belgian woman in Iraq are holding five people thought to be connected
with her on suspicion of participating in terrorist activities, a spokesman
said on Thursday.
The 38-year-old convert to Islam, nicknamed by Belgian media as the
"Belgian kamikaze", blew herself up on Nov. 9 on the outskirts of Baghdad in
what security sources believe was the first suicide attack in Iraq by a
European woman.
The mother of the woman identified by media as Muriel Degauque
described her in a newspaper interview as a runaway who dabbled in drugs
before becoming "more Muslim than Muslim" when she married a Belgian of
Moroccan descent.
Investigators were holding three Belgians of North African descent,
a Tunisian and a Belgian after receiving intelligence about a suspected
terrorist cell operating in the country, the federal prosecutor general's
office said.
They were among 14 people arrested on Wednesday when police raided
homes in Brussels, Antwerp, and near Paris. One of them was given
conditional freedom while eight others were freed unconditionally, a
spokesman for the office said by telephone.
Police said they had evidence the suspects provided logistics and
support for attacks against U.S. targets in Iraq, adding the arrests may
have headed off further attacks against U.S. targets.
They are also suspected of forgery and using false papers, although
formal charges have not yet been laid.
Muriel's mother said she had a sneaking suspicion her daughter was
responsible for the attack when she heard the news of a Belgian convert
being involved.
"I had a bad feeling," she told the French daily Le Parisien. "For
three weeks, I had tried to call her but there was no answer."
The mother said Muriel's connection with Islam began in 2000 when
she became involved with North African men and eventually married a Belgian
of Moroccan descent, whom she blamed for "brainwashing" her daughter.
"She became more Muslim than Muslim," she said. "When she first
converted, she wore a simple veil. That was not so far from normal even if
it is strange for a Belgian. But, with her last husband ... she wore a
chador."
A chador is a head-to-toe dress worn by devout Muslim women.
"The religion was totally ingrained in her. She only lived for that.
She had learned Arabic," she said.
Muriel gradually became estranged from the family and failed to
visit her mother when she was hospitalised.
"When I got out (of the hospital), I asked her if she remembered
that she had a mother," she said. "She answered she did not have time for
that."
The mother said she had not expected Muriel to go as far as blowing
herself up in Iraq.
"I did not see it coming. She was very secretive, with a very
independent character. I am angry at those who manipulated her," she said.
by a Belgian woman in Iraq are holding five people thought to be connected
with her on suspicion of participating in terrorist activities, a spokesman
said on Thursday.
The 38-year-old convert to Islam, nicknamed by Belgian media as the
"Belgian kamikaze", blew herself up on Nov. 9 on the outskirts of Baghdad in
what security sources believe was the first suicide attack in Iraq by a
European woman.
The mother of the woman identified by media as Muriel Degauque
described her in a newspaper interview as a runaway who dabbled in drugs
before becoming "more Muslim than Muslim" when she married a Belgian of
Moroccan descent.
Investigators were holding three Belgians of North African descent,
a Tunisian and a Belgian after receiving intelligence about a suspected
terrorist cell operating in the country, the federal prosecutor general's
office said.
They were among 14 people arrested on Wednesday when police raided
homes in Brussels, Antwerp, and near Paris. One of them was given
conditional freedom while eight others were freed unconditionally, a
spokesman for the office said by telephone.
Police said they had evidence the suspects provided logistics and
support for attacks against U.S. targets in Iraq, adding the arrests may
have headed off further attacks against U.S. targets.
They are also suspected of forgery and using false papers, although
formal charges have not yet been laid.
Muriel's mother said she had a sneaking suspicion her daughter was
responsible for the attack when she heard the news of a Belgian convert
being involved.
"I had a bad feeling," she told the French daily Le Parisien. "For
three weeks, I had tried to call her but there was no answer."
The mother said Muriel's connection with Islam began in 2000 when
she became involved with North African men and eventually married a Belgian
of Moroccan descent, whom she blamed for "brainwashing" her daughter.
"She became more Muslim than Muslim," she said. "When she first
converted, she wore a simple veil. That was not so far from normal even if
it is strange for a Belgian. But, with her last husband ... she wore a
chador."
A chador is a head-to-toe dress worn by devout Muslim women.
"The religion was totally ingrained in her. She only lived for that.
She had learned Arabic," she said.
Muriel gradually became estranged from the family and failed to
visit her mother when she was hospitalised.
"When I got out (of the hospital), I asked her if she remembered
that she had a mother," she said. "She answered she did not have time for
that."
The mother said she had not expected Muriel to go as far as blowing
herself up in Iraq.
"I did not see it coming. She was very secretive, with a very
independent character. I am angry at those who manipulated her," she said.