The papers just missed being able to report the death of Osama bin Laden yesterday, but they all go to town on it today, devoting many pages to the news. There’s also a cyber attack on a bank and a village is centre of the world, well nearly. It’s all in the Dutch dailies.

Bin Laden’s death
This morning’s De Telegraaf makes no bones about the message: “Triumph over Terror - Delivered from the Devil” reads its headline. But, under the photos of jubilant Americans outside the “new One World Trade Centre” in New York, it has a warning: Bin Laden’s death will be the starting signal for a series of terrorist attacks.

Only last week, the paper says, al-Qaeda threatened to blow up a nuclear device in Europe if its leader was killed. However, the mass-circulation daily points out, the terrorist alert level in the Netherlands (currently at ‘limited’ – the second of four categories) is not being raised.

Nrc.next doesn’t beat about the bush either with the headline, “Al-Qaeda is also celebrating”, plastered right in the middle of its front page. The paper tells its educated young readers that Bin Laden was long past his zenith. Constantly on the run, he was a millstone round the neck of the terrorist network he founded. The paper believes al-Qaeda will get far more use out of him as a martyr.

Read more about al-Qaeda 

Symbol of terrorism
Today’s de Volkskrant runs an interview with Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal. He says “a symbol of terrorism has met his end – an historic event.” He goes on: “It is also a signal to those bent on evil: do not underestimate the resilience of those who are fighting terrorism. Terrorism has suffered a major blow, but the international struggle against it hasn’t finished by a long way.[…]We are being extra vigilant.”

In another article, the left-of-centre daily says the cult status of Bin Laden among radicalised young Dutch Muslims has long since waned. Dutch terrorist networks are said to have been decimated since 2005. The few remaining Islamist extremists look to radical internet preachers and not Bin Laden for inspiration.

Christian-based Trouw says some Muslims in the Dutch town of Amersfoort believe that Bin Laden’s death is an American ploy. Most of those who do believe that he was killed on Sunday are pleased. “I don’t think they [al-Qaeda] have such a strong network anymore,” says one. “Maybe we’re in for some insane responses from his supporters, but that won’t last.”

The Dutch are well-known for their ‘business’ sense, and Trouw does not disappoint. In a small article, it points out that Bin Laden’s death has pushed share prices up a bit and the price of silver down.

On its front page, AD finds space for a very personal view. Ingrid Kuijpers from Schiedam was a good friend of Ingeborg Lariby, the only Dutch victim of the attack on the Twin Towers in New York, who was 42 when she was killed. Ms Kuijpers tells the paper: “At last, they’ve got even with him [Bin Laden]. I’ll never get Ingeborg back, but I’m still pleased.”

Read more about the Dutch response to the death of Osama bin Laden 

Dutch bank under cyber attack
Well into the paper, after all the coverage of Bin Laden’s death, AD reports the cyber attack against the Rabobank yesterday. Nearly three million Rabobank customers were unable to use internet banking facilities for much of the day. The problem was a Distributed Denial of Service attack, whereby huge numbers of hacked computers simultaneously log into a site causing it to overload and shut down.

The paper points out one of the major difficulties in combatting cyber crime: the hacked computers are often abroad. An expert says that “co-operation with foreign governments is often necessary to track down the hackers”.

A Rabobank spokesperson has too much on his mind to think about investigations: “Our first priority is that our customers can do their banking business as soon as possible”. He is quick to point out that customers’ banking details were never endangered by the cyber attack. 

Read more about cyber crime in the Netherlands

Centre of the (Benelux) world
Also relegated to the back pages of De Telegraaf is the news that the geographical centre of the Benelux lies in the municipality of Oisterwijk, in the south of the Netherlands - just southeast of the centre of the village of Moergestel to be exact. The Benelux group (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) was set up as a trading bloc back in 1944.

On 20 May, Deputy European Affairs Minister Ben Knapen will unveil an international signpost on the spot which, it is hoped, will become a tourist attraction. A symposium on the importance of the Benelux now and in the future will also be taking place. No doubt the tourists are already flocking to the area.