Nicholas Watt in Brussels
Friday September 8, 2006
The Guardian
Belgian police yesterday arrested 17 alleged neo-Nazis, mostly serving soldiers, who were said to be planning to destabilise the country's institutions in a series of terrorist attacks. In simultaneous raids on five army barracks and 18 private addresses across the northern Flanders half of Belgium, police uncovered a homemade bomb and numerous weapons.
The raids by 150 police officers in East Flanders, Antwerp and Limburg were the most dramatic breakthrough in a two-year investigation into far-right activists allegedly operating inside the armed forces.
The federal prosecutor's office, which is not limited by the sort of pre-trial restrictions in force in Britain, described the arrested people as mainly "soldiers and people with an extreme right ideology who clearly express themselves through racism, xenophobia, Holocaust denial, anti-semitism and neo-Nazism".
The main suspect, who is a member of the neo-Nazi Blood and Honour Flanders group, recruited in military bases throughout Flanders, the Flemish-speaking half of Belgium.
The arrests are likely to have a strong impact in Belgium, where mainstream politicians are bracing themselves for significant advances by the hard-right Vlaams Belang party in next month's local elections. The party insists it is non-violent, however, and distances itself from neo-Nazis.
10 of those arrested are members of the Belgian army (one officer cadet and a warrant officer among them) and all belong to the international right wing group "Blood and Honour".
Belgium's Federal Prosecutor Daniel Bernard said: "There was no evidence of an imminent attack, but from the documents the authorities had seized it was clear that the group wanted to attack the structure and institutions of the state".
A bomb capable of blowing up a car was just one of the items seized in the raids on five barracks and 18 homes in Flanders. "We found an enormous amount of ammunition. All manner of weapons from hunting rifles to military guns, detonators and above all extreme right and even neo-nazi propaganda," added the Federal Prosecutor.
The arrests were the result of a two year investigation. Sources claim the group had used army grounds for paramilitary exercises, shooting practice, as well as the spreading of neo-nazi ideology. Patrick Coeman, who studies right-wing organisations, says "Blood and Honour" is particularly powerful in Belgium because it is the only place in Europe where the group is legal.
(source: own translation from Belgian sources: here mainly Euronews)
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