Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
Belgium's Vlaams Belang party said it would like to quickly obtain full clarification from Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden (CD&V) regarding the arrest of a wanted terrorist at Rome airport. Representative Ortwin Deporter said: “If it is true that the man was arrested in Belgium last year and then released, then the citizen has the right to know how that happened.” “Ultimately, the threat of Islamic terrorism remains very much present.” According to what was stated in a statement by the far-right party in Belgium, it also said, “The suspected ISIS terrorist who was arrested two days ago at Fiumicino Airport near Rome is 32-year-old Ilkhumi Sayrakmonzoda from Tajikistan. In 2014 he went to Syria to fight as a member.” He was active in the terrorist organization ISIS. The man, who was nicknamed "the mercenary", then traveled through Russia, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Egypt, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates and China. According to the Italian newspaper "Il Mattino", he was arrested in Belgium last year, but was later arrested. He was released after only one day.
“I would like clarification from the minister on the specific circumstances in which this happened,” DePortier said. “There is currently still a lot of uncertainty about the arrest in Belgium. But if it does happen, I would like to know, among other things, what crimes an international arrest warrant has been issued for this man, and how he can be released again.” After this short period.
The MP stressed that the threat of Islamic terrorism is particularly present, and referred, among others, to Abdeslam Al-Aswad, who shot dead two Swedish football fans in Brussels in October. He is the person who was wanted in his country of origin, “one of the North African countries,” on suspicion of having ties to extremism, and Belgium released him some time before he committed his crime.
Deporter concludes, “Recently, a research report issued by the committee charged with monitoring the work of the security services revealed many areas of improvement and imbalances, whether in the field of database consultation or in the field of information exchange.” “No one is perfect, but we must learn from the past. So I expect clarity from the Minister on this matter quickly.”