Belgium Unveils Plan to Combat Islamist Radicalization Brussels area is focus of plan to increase police and crack down on terror financing By Matthias Verbergt
http://www.wsj.com/articles/belgium-unveils-plan-to-combat-islamist-radicalization-1454696873
BRUSSELS—The Belgian government, reacting to the major role terrorists from Brussels played in the Paris terror attacks, unveiled a program Friday to combat Islamist radicalization in and around the city.
The plans include the hiring of 1,000 new police officers across the country by 2019, with 300 of them added this year and deployed in eight municipalities in the Brussels region.
Interior Minister Jan Jambon said the additional police force in Brussels would focus on cutting off revenue sources for extremist groups by countering illicit trade in arms, drugs and false travel documents. Brussels police will also increase the monitoring of places of worship known for extremist preaching, he said.
The plans form part of a €298 million ($332 million) countrywide investment in counterterrorism that includes 110 more judiciary staff and the addition of 103 domestic intelligence service members.
The government also announced the recruitment of 70 additional Special Forces by 2019, as well as the installation of 260 extra surveillance cameras on highways and enhanced security checks at the country’s airports and train stations.
The Nov. 13 Paris attacks, which left 130 people dead, were partly perpetrated by Belgian nationals and plotted in Belgium, investigators have said. Belgian authorities have arrested 11 suspects, all originating from the Brussels region, in relation to the attacks.
The focal point of the Belgium’s much-anticipated move is the Canal Plan, named after the waterway linking Brussels with the adjacent town of Vilvoorde. It is meant to harmonize the de-radicalization strategies of seven of the 19 Brussels municipalities and Vilvoorde, all located along the canal and most touched by radicalized inhabitants departing to the Middle East to join Islamic State and other jihadist groups.
The plans of the center-right Belgian government have faced sharp public criticism from the mostly left-wing local Brussels mayors, who are in charge of implementing it.
Since the attacks, the country’s bureaucracy has been the target of criticism, as signs emerged that information on wanted individuals wasn’t appropriately shared among the city’s six separate police zones.
“Terrorism is an international phenomenon,” Mr. Jambon said. “Now we need all actors in our country to work together on this.”
Days after the Paris attacks, Mr. Jambon vowed to “clean up” the Brussels districts that are mostly hit by radicalization, saying he would learn the exact whereabouts of all inhabitants by going door to door.
But Mr. Jambon backpedaled after local authorities said such systematic house searches were unrealistic.
“It’s crazy,” said Sarah Turine, the local councilor charged with youth policy and intercultural dialogue in Molenbeek, the Brussels municipality that was home to Abdelhamid Abaaoud , the ringleader of the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, still fugitive and currently one of Europe’s most wanted men, and several other suspects.
Ms. Turine, a member of the Green party, said Molenbeek has more than 95,000 inhabitants. “Searching for terrorists among all of them is like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
Mr. Jambon said locating people is still part of the plan, albeit in a more intelligent way. “A security policy starts with knowing where one lives,” he said.
Emir Kir, a socialist mayor of the Brussels district of Sint-Joost-ten-Node, said Mr. Jambon’s plan is unacceptable and merely shows “his contempt for the Brussels region.”
Mr. Jambon is a member of the right-wing and separatist N-VA party, which wants to establish an independent Dutch-speaking Flanders, while all Brussels mayors are French-speaking.
“By stating he wanted to clean up Brussels, Mr. Jambon has insulted an entire community,” Mr. Kir said.
Some local Brussels politicians acknowledge mistakes were made in the past. Gaëtan Van Goidsenhoven is a former mayor and current councilor of Anderlecht, a municipality next to Molenbeek that also forms part of the Canal Plan.
Until recently, “Brussels mayors denied reality,” Mr. Van Goidsenhoven said. “The sense of urgency has finally arrived. We have a tremendous amount of work to do.”
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