According to the Belgian authorities, the cell which was arrested last week in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria intended to carry out an attack which will have more of an impact and victims than the Madrid attack.
The possible targets: A train full of NATO soldiers, NATO Headquarters, a packed sports stadium, a sports event, a street full of Jews and trains on routes which Belgian Jews often go on.
Three Amsterdam residents were arrested: Samir S. (28), Soufian B. (26) and Redouan A. (25). A Saudi from France was supposed to finance the attack in Belgium, the group was supposed to get the weapons in Belgium.
The phones of the Amsterdam suspects were tapped for a while. On Nov. 8th, Redouan A. had an emotional conversation with his wife Fatin. The Belgian authorities say that it can be concluded from the conversation that Redouan parted from his wife, and that the 'way to Paradise' lay open before him.
The three suspects began being active early this year. Starting in late 2009, the Belgian authorities started following the extremist website of Ansar Al-Mujahideen, a digital network of Muslim radicals which talked about attacks on NATO targets. In addition phones were tapped.
The three suspects were first noticed in February, when they sent an SMS to two Belgian youth about taking a flight to Turkey. The three flew to Turkey in late October.
Source: Parool (Dutch)
