DAR AL HARB - NETHERLANDS: A JIHADIST DIES, FOAM DRIPPING FROM HIS MOUTH, HIS DEATH IS UNEXPLAINED

Mystery Death of Hofstad Terrorist Suspect

THE HAGUE, 01/06/07 - The alleged right-hand man of Hofstad terrorist group leader Abu Khaled was not murdered, according to the Public Prosecutor's Office (OM). What he did die of is however unclear.

Writer and filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered by Islamic terrorist Mohammed Bouyeri in Amsterdam on 2 November 2004. The alleged spiritual leader of Bouyeri's Hofstad terrorist group, 47 year old Syrian national Abu Khaled, left the Netherlands on the same day, it emerged later. The OM suspected that 33 year old Rachid Belkacem was the person who helped the Syrian leave the country.

Belkacem was released from pre-trial custody in March 2006 because the OM thought that if he was convicted, the sentence would not be longer than the period for which he had already been detained. He was accused of membership of a criminal terrorist organisation, but the OM eventually had insufficient evidence and withdrew the case.

Four months after his release, the Moroccan was found dead in his home in Zierikzee. His friends thought he had been poisoned, saying foam came out of his mouth. The OM could not yesterday say what he died of, but "thorough" medical and tactical investigation has yielded no indications of a crime, the OM reported.


Pertinent Links:

1) Mystery Death of Hofstad Terrorist Suspect