2001 bomb plot in Europe

Planned terror attacks around Europe In 2001, a network of interconnected terrorist cells in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands was uncovered by law enforcement. The network had connections to al-Qaeda and was planning to commit one or more bombings. Plot Three cells were involved: one in Rotterdam, one in Brussels, and one in a suburb of Paris.http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/10/26/inv.thwarting.cells/ Thwarting terror cells in Europe October 26, 2001 CNN 5 July 2012 3 January 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190103004823/http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/10/26/inv.thwarting.cells/ dead According to Djamel Beghal, a French-Algerian national arrested for attempting to enter France with a fake passport, Nizar Trabelsi planned to strap a bomb onto himself, cover it up with a business suit, and then detonate the bomb along with himself in the U.S. Embassy in Paris. Concurrently, a van packed with explosives would be detonated outside a U.S. cultural centre at the nearby Place de la Madeleine.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/03/afghanistan.terrorism1 Paris plot reveals link to terror chief Henley Jon 2001-10-03 The Guardian 2018-12-31 en-GB 0261-3077 Trabelsi denied this, but admitted that he had planned to commit a suicide bombing by detonating a car bomb next to the canteen at Kleine Brogel Air Base in Belgium. Trabelsi also said that he had met Osama bin Laden and personally requested to become a suicide bomber. Investigation Beghal was arrested on 28 July 2001 in Dubai as he was attempting to travel back to Europe on a false French passport after visiting an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan.http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/10/03/inv.paris.begal/ Sources: Bin Laden link to Paris plot 2001-10-03 CNN 2019-01-03http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-worldtrade-embassyplot-lat-story.html Embassy plot offers insight into terrorist recruitment, training Rotella Sebastian 22 October 2001 Chicago Tribune 2019-01-06 https://web.archive.org/web/20181231143852/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-worldtrade-embassyplot-lat-story.html 2018-12-31 live During interrogation, Beghal said that there was a plan to attack the U.S. Embassy in Paris and told investigators of terrorist cells in Rotterdam and Paris. He also said that Abu Zubaydah, a close associate of Osama bin Laden, had ordered the attack. After being extradited from the United Arab Emirates to France on 1 October 2001, Beghal retracted his confession, saying that it had been extracted using torture. Surveillance of a suspected terrorist cell led by Kamel Daoudi in Corbeil-Essonnes near Paris started on 10 September. Following surveillance officers overhearing discussion of destroying evidence, French police moved in and arrested seven men on 21 September. Daoudi was not among the arrested, but he was shortly thereafter arrested in Leicester and extradited from the United Kingdom to France on 29 September 2001. Dutch police started surveilling the Rotterdam cell in August. The four members of the cell were arrested on 13 September. Police became aware of a connection between the Rotterdam cell and one led by Trabelsi in Brussels.January 2019 Based on the surveillance of the Rotterdam cell? Based on information from Beghal? Trabelsi and a Belgian Moroccan were arrested in two different areas of the Brussels metropolitan area on 13 September in an operation coordinated with the arrests in the Netherlands on the same day. At Trabelsi's apartment, police found machine pistols, chemical formulas for bomb-making, detailed maps of the U.S. embassy in Paris, and a business suit. In a restaurant run by one of Trabelsi's associates, police found materials that could have been used to make a bomb capable of blowing up a building. Legal proceedings In December 2002, four men were found not guilty of charges relating to the plot by a Dutch court, citing insufficient and improperly obtained evidence.http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/12/18/dutch.terrorism/ Dutch court frees terror suspects 2002-12-18 CNN https://web.archive.org/web/20071208043522/http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/12/18/dutch.terrorism/ 2007-12-08 2018-12-31 Two of them, Jérôme Courtailler and Abdelghani Rabia, were convicted in absentia of belonging to a terrorist organization by an appellate court on 21 June 2004, and Courtailler turned himself in on 24 June.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1465200/News-in-brief.html Dutch appeal court jails embassy bomb plotters 2004-06-21 The Daily Telegraph en 2019-01-06https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/19/world/europe-fears-islamic-converts-may-give-cover-for-extremism.html Europe Fears Islamic Converts May Give Cover for Extremism Smith Craig S. 2004-07-19 The New York Times 2019-01-06 en-US 0362-4331 Nizar Trabelsi was sentenced to ten years in prison by a Belgian court on 30 September 2003 for the attempted destruction of public property, illegal arms possession, and membership in a private militia, reflecting Belgium's lack of specific anti-terrorism laws at the time.https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/special/cron.html Chronology: The Plots Johnson Zachary 2005-01-25 PBS 2019-01-02https://www.cbsnews.com/news/terror-verdict-for-soccer-pro/ Terror Verdict For Soccer Pro 2003-09-30 CBS News en-US 2019-01-02https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3150594.stm Al-Qaeda plotters sentenced 2003-09-30 BBC 2019-01-02 en-GB It was the largest terrorism trial the country had held up to that point; seventeen others were convicted of lesser offences and another five were acquitted.https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-oct-01-fg-terror1-story.html 18 Convicted in Al Qaeda-Tied Belgian Trial Rotella Sebastian 2003-10-01 Los Angeles Times 2019-01-06 https://web.archive.org/web/20190106025810/http://articles.latimes.com/2003/oct/01/world/fg-terror1 2019-01-06 en-US live 0458-3035January 2019 Different sources give different numbers of convictions and acquittals. Sources do agree on the total number of defendants – 23. Trabelsi was extradited to the United States in 2013.https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-24393770 Tunisian man faces US terror charges 2013-10-04 BBC News 2019-01-06 en-GB Six men were convicted of criminal association in relation with a terrorist enterprise by a French court on 15 March 2005; Djamel Beghal and Kamel Daoudi were sentenced to ten and nine years in prison, respectively, and the other four received sentences ranging from one to six years in prison.https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4350525.stm Six jailed over Paris bomb plot 2005-03-15 BBC 2019-01-02 en-GBhttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/france-convicts-6-in-terror-plot/ France Convicts 6 In Terror Plot Roberts Joel 2005-03-15 CBS en-US 2019-01-06https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37035-2005Mar15.html Six Guilty of Targeting U.S. Embassy in Paris Richburg Keith B. 2005-03-16 The Washington Post 2019-01-06 Beghal was released in 2010.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11333776/Charlie-Hebdo-suspect-mentored-by-Abu-Hamza-disciple.html Charlie Hebdo suspect 'mentored' by Abu Hamza disciple, Djamal Beghal Rayner Gordon 8 January 2015 13 December 2017 Telegraph Daoudi was released from prison in 2008, whereupon he was to be deported to Algeria. However, the European Court of Human Rights blocked the order, and he was instead placed under house arrest.https://www.hrw.org/news/2008/04/24/france-european-court-orders-suspension-deportation France: European Court Orders Suspension of Deportation 2008-04-24 Human Rights Watch en 2019-01-06https://harpers.org/archive/2016/01/the-ultimate-terrorist-factory/ The Ultimate Terrorist Factory Sayare Scott 2016 Harper's Magazine 2019-01-06 0017-789X References Category:2000s crimes in Paris Europe bomb plot Europe bomb plot Europe bomb plot Europe bomb plot Category:21st-century terrorist incidents in Belgium Category:Al-Qaeda activities in Europe Category:Attack plots targeting diplomatic missions of the United States Category:Attacks in France in the 2000s Category:Failed terrorist attempts in Europe Category:Islamic terrorism in Belgium Category:Islamic terrorism in France Category:Islamic terrorism in the Netherlands Europe bomb plot Bomb plot Category:Terrorist incidents in France in the 2000s Category:Terrorist incidents in Paris Category:Terrorist incidents in the Netherlands in the 2000s