http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4496/Buit...IS-sympathisanten-wordt-hier-onderschat.dhtml
Interview with Montasser Alde'emeh, Belgian Palestinian; Researcher (Global Jihad, Al Qaeda, IS)
"The danger of ISIS supporters is underestimated here"
A few days before the 26-year-old man who allegedly returned from Syria packed his Kalashnikov, boarded the Thalys at Brussels-Midi and was only barely stopped from causing a carnage on the train, a whatsapp-message arrived from the caliphate. The Belgian researcher Montasser Alde'emeh received an app on Tuesday. So far, nothing to worry about. Alde'emeh, who did field research in Syria in 2014, has kept in touch with dozens of jihadis since then. And often gets more apps from them.
However, never before Alde'emeh received a threat to Belgium. Addressed personally to him, he says, last month this happened for the first time. That all of Belgium was now declared a target, alarmed him greatly. In an audio file the voice Abdellah Nouaman (20) of Antwerp sounded, who expressed in unmistakable Flemish threats on behalf of the Belgian and Dutch Jihadis in Syria.
One could hear:
"This is not a threat or foolish talking This is a declaration of war. Everything will go up into the air in Belgium. Libraries, schools, hospitals, shopping malls, dancings ... all places where the unbelievers are, we no longer go along with the talk about innocent victims. All infidels will be killed."
Thursday the Flemish newspaper De Standaard publisjed an interview with Alde'emeh about the threat. The newspaper also presented the facts to the Belgian security services. They "take the message very seriously," the newspaper reported, "but they see no reason to raise the threat level."
Although the attempted attack [on the Thalys] was applauded from the Caliphate, IS did not claim it. Meanwhile, the defendant claims not to have acted because of Islamic terrorist motives, but only because he was planning to rob train passengers. However, the possibility exists that Alde'emeh received an omen of things to come.
What do you think, is there a connection between the app and the events on the Thalys?
"I do not know whether a direct link exists between the attack and the threat. But actually, that does not matter. In the past the leader of IS has called for slaughter of infidels in Europe. Radical Islamic youth in Europe are encouraged on a daily basis to carry out attacks. In messages they get questions like. "What are you doing in the infidel Belgium? Either you come back here, or kill them over there and do at least something for us"
I see that sort of thing constantly. On Twitter during the last few days, I also saw circulate a manual by IS - how to make chemical bombs so you can carry out attacks here."
How did you know it was serious?
"I never received such a specific threat before, and the guy who sent it, was not reachable afterwards. That is why I reported it to the local police. And then the federal police started an investigation. If I get forwarded something like this. I'm 100 percent sure that the young people who sympathize with IS, also received it. And there are hundreds of them in Europe. "
Why has the Belgian government not intervened?
"I do not know, but my warning was not taken very seriously. Journalists have been toning down my warning too. The danger is underestimated, in my opinion.
In my view the Belgian intelligence services work as amateurs. They have a lack of resources, analysts and experts. I keep a database, and sometimes know more than they do. There are not enough people who can tell one Arabic dialect from another. And they do not know enough about Islam and the Koran to get inside the minds of the jihadists."
What would you do?
"Of the foreign fighters in Syria who return, some are arrested and others are not. Therefore, young people who want to come back, do not know what awaits them. If they'd know that, they can think matters ten times over before they leave.
A clear signal should be given. We have to stop that childish stuff like: 'We do not want to cause fear.' This way we're just waiting for the next attack."
BBM