Did the jihadis have a snitch in Brussels?
posted at 10:59 am on March 15, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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A Belgian newspaper reports that Belgian intelligence developed a high-ranking al-Qaeda source as an informant and used the information to foil a terrorist attack in London. The attack intended to follow up on the 7/7/05 London transit system attack, but instead British security agents made a series of raids and arrests that uncovered the plot and the materials. The man believed to be their source was arrested in Morocco last month, leading an AQ unit:
A suspected Islamist leader may have helped foil an attack in Britain just after the 2005 London train bombings by tipping off Belgium’s intelligence service, a newspaper reported Saturday.
Belgium’s domestic intelligence gave British authorities “very precise” information that enabled them to foil the attack, planned for some time after the July 7, 2005 bombings, La Libre Belgique said.
Abdelkader Belliraj, a Belgian and Moroccan national, was arrested last month in Morocco on suspicion of having led an Al Qaeda-linked group.
But he is also thought to have been in the pay of Belgium’s State Security domestic intelligence for years.
It sounds like Belliraj wanted to eat his cake and have it, too. He informed on his colleagues and got them all captured and made some money with the Belgians. Afterwards, it looks as though he left Brussels and went full time into jihad in Morocco. Moroccan authorities claim he has confessed to a series of murders in Belgium going back twenty years.
Belliraj went on trial two weeks ago in Morocco for his terrorist activities there, which were apparently quite extensive. He built a network of jihadists and large caches of arms. Belliraj would have targeted Moroccan Jews, military officials, and government ministers had he been able to complete his mission in Morocco. It doesn’t quite square with the identity of an informant.
It could be that the Belgians want to discredit Belliraj in order to pressure him into cooperation — or it could easily be that Belliraj was just a complicated and narcissistic figure in a network of sociopaths.
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We should look over our shoulder (and so should they).
RobCon on March 15, 2008 at 11:04 AM
Sounds like a book I read titled “Inside the Jihad” written by a Morrocan living in Belgium whose family is involved in jihad. He tells the French secret service and goes to work for them posing as a jihadi. Then he goes to Afghanistan for training. This is all pre-9/11 and shows in detail how they train and fight, it shoild be read by all Western troops fighting against jihadis.
Tony737 on March 15, 2008 at 11:11 AM
Moroccan authorities claim he has confessed to a series of murders in Belgium going back twenty years.
Hmmm. I wonder if Moroccan authorities are familiar with the techniques of water boarding or if they just went straight to the hammer and phone book?
Syd B. on March 15, 2008 at 11:13 AM
Poor guy may not want to go back outside, now that he’s been publicly fingered as a snitch who got some fellow jihadis arrested in London. In fact, if convicted, general population also wouldn’t be too safe. Looks like he’s between hell and a hard rock Yawn.
a capella on March 15, 2008 at 11:15 AM
“Poor guy may not want to go back outside, now that he’s been publicly fingered …”
Ewwww! I’d never leave the house again either if that happened to me!
Tony737 on March 15, 2008 at 11:19 AM
Could be a convenient way for the Belgians to off the guy before he talks too much about their own methods and such. I doubt he’ll last long now that word is out.
Maquis on March 15, 2008 at 11:48 AM
AQ is very clever. They would swap the lives of one cell to buy time for another. Roast him.
Zorro on March 15, 2008 at 2:35 PM
Yes.
labrat on March 15, 2008 at 2:43 PM
O/T but not really, since this is all the same war:
BANGKOK – A man with two bombs in his car was killed when they exploded prematurely in Thailand’s rebellious Muslim south on Saturday, police said. The man may have been planning to carry an attack in the region, an independent sultanate until annexed by Thailand a century ago, where more than 2,300 people have been killed in four years of insurgency, they said. – He was killed instantly, but nobody was wounded, police said.
And it’s from Rooter’s! Believe it or not. Credit where credit is due.
Tony737 on March 15, 2008 at 3:10 PM
labrat on March 15, 2008 at 2:43 PM
Bingo, least we forget that thieves and thugs make up the vast majority of AQ or any Islamodeath cult, nothin’but scum of the earth!
dmann on March 15, 2008 at 3:14 PM
Murdering sociopaths for sure, but just as in many past wars there have and always will be double-agents milking money from both sides.
Liberty or Death on March 15, 2008 at 4:48 PM
Either way, a lot of mutts are out of circulation. I’m betting he lost favor as a source and was burned.
JAW on March 15, 2008 at 8:23 PM
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