US terrorism charges against Dutchman leaked

101_6_SIG

Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Details of terrorism charges to be brought in the United States against a Dutch citizen appear to have been leaked. The US authorities believe Dutch terrorist suspect Sabir K. was planning to carry out attacks for al-Qaeda.

The Americans think that, in 2010, he had planned a suicide attack on a US military base in Afghanistan. Earler, in 2007, he and certain accomplices allegedly hid mortar grenades in order to carry out an attack at a later date.

This information comes from a document which has come into the possession of Dutch press agency ANP. It apparently describes the charges to be brought by a New York federal court against Sabir K. whose alias, according to the Americans, is 'Younis the Dutch'. The charges have not yet been made public.

Sabir K. is currently being held in the Netherlands awaiting possible extradition to the US. He was arrested in April at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport after the Pakistani authorities deported him to the Netherlands. He was arrested in Pakistan in 2010.

His lawyer, André Seebrechts, says his client was "lured to the Netherlands" and was not informed that he would be rearrested at Schiphol, nor was he told that he was on a US wanted list. The Dutch foreign ministry dismisses the claims, saying there was no obligation for him to be notified, particularly by the local Dutch consul.

Earlier Mr Seebrechts said his client had been tortured in Pakistan and that the Dutch and US authorities are aware of this. The torture allegedly included mock executions and his being forced to stand or sit in uncomfortable positions for long periods. A Dutch consul in Pakistan says that when he visited the man, he was brought in in handcuffs and with a bag over his head. The Dutch authorities deny any knowledge of his having been tortured.

(nc/tf)