Patterns of Global Terrorism 2001 - Belgium

Belgian Government reaction to the tragedy of September 11 was swift and supportive. Prime Minister Verhofstadt publicly condemned the attacks on September 11 and again on 12 September before the European Parliament. During Belgium's six-month term of the rotating EU presidency in the second half of 2001, the EU made significant progress in combating terrorism. Belgium immediately thrust counterterrorism to the top of its agenda for EU reform efforts in the wake of the attacks. Belgium helped to obtain key EU-wide agreement on a European arrest warrant, which will greatly facilitate extradition within member states. As a NATO ally, Belgium contributed a navy frigate in the Mediterranean and backfill for Operation Enduring Freedom and provided aircraft for humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.

The Belgians cooperated on many levels with US counterterrorism efforts, from information sharing to policymaking. Belgian authorities arrested on 13 September Tunisian national, Nizar Trabelsi and Moroccan Tabdelkrim El Hadouti, (brother of Said El Hadouti who was charged in Morocco with helping to provide false documents to the Massoud suicide bombers) for involvement in an alleged plot against the US Embassy in Paris. Police also seized from Trabelsi's apartment a submachinegun, ammunition, and chemical formulas for making explosive devices.

Terrorists, however, have found it relatively easy to exploit Belgium's liberal asylum laws, open land borders, and investigative, prosecutorial, or procedural weaknesses in order to use the country as an operational staging area for international terrorist attacks. The forgery of Belgian passports and theft of Belgian passports from Belgian Government offices have facilitated terrorists' ability to travel. For example, the two suicide-assassins of Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud in Afghanistan on 9 September had traveled as journalists under false names on Belgian passports stolen from consulates in France and the Netherlands. The Belgian Government instituted a new passport with state-of-the-art anti-fraud features in March 2001.

In December, Belgian authorities arrested Tarek Maaroufi, a Tunisian-born Belgian national, on charges of involvement in trafficking of forged Belgian passports. Maaroufi was charged with forgery, criminal association, and recruiting for a foreign army or armed force. Belgian authorities suspect the forged passports are linked to those used by the two suicide-assassins of Northern Alliance leader Massoud. Italian authorities also sought Maaroufi for his ties to known al-Qaida cells. Belgian authorities also opened an investigation into the activities of Richard Reid, the accused "shoe bomber" who on 2 December was overpowered on board American Airlines Flight 63. Reid stayed at a hotel in Brussels from 5-16 December and frequented local cybercafes.

Belgium is beginning to add legislative and judicial tools that will increase its ability to respond to terrorist threats. The Belgian Government assisted in the investigation of several cases of international terrorism, both among European states and with the United States. Belgian cabinet ministers agreed in November on a draft bill aimed at facilitating wiretaps, the use of informants, and other expanded investigative techniques.

Belgium fully implemented all UNSC resolutions requiring freezing of Taliban-related assets.