Page 9 - atoday
P. 9
WORLD NEWS 9
Saturday 2 April 2016
Threat of extreme right march stirs fears in tense Molenbeek
LORI HINNANT Shoppers look at fruit on sale at a corner shop in the suburb of Molenbeek, in Brussels. With ex- repercussions on social
Associated Press treme-right groups threatening to take the neighborhood of Molenbeek by storm Saturday, com- networks among young
BRUSSELS (AP) — Home to munity leaders fear its predominantly Muslim young people will fight back. people, families, saying
jihadists connected to the we have to get mobilized
deadly bombings in Paris (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) to defend our little broth-
and Brussels, recruiting ers, our sisters, our mothers.
ground for Islamic State that extreme-right activists city as soon as it was an- of a police force they say is Seeing that last weekend
extremists, and witness to are believed to be con- nounced, largely in reac- unprepared and unwilling the police didn’t do their
repeated police raids, Mo- verging on Molenbeek tion to the unrest last week. to listen to their concerns. job and didn’t succeed in
lenbeek is bracing for a from around Europe, even At the meeting Thursday, “There are some messag- avoiding clashes, that cre-
new onslaught. though police banned the Molenbeek’s youth or- es that are clearly calling ates mistrust,” said Sarah
With extreme-right groups scheduled protest and ganizers planned for the for violence against Mus- Turine, a Molenbeek coun-
threatening to take the any counter protests in the worst, themselves skeptical lims. And there have been cilwoman who called the
neighborhood by storm meeting in hopes of head-
Saturday, community lead- ing off problems.
ers fear its predominantly Outside the non-descript
Muslim young people will building where the meet-
fight back. ing took place, Molen-
“They don’t trust the po- beek’s weekly market
lice and they aren’t going filled Saint John the Baptist
to take it,” said Fouad Ben square and the neighbor-
Abdelkader, a teacher hood’s central walkway
in the neighborhood. On — both central gathering
Thursday he joined a meet- places, which concerned
ing of a couple dozen residents are contemplat-
community leaders and ing blocking off for the day.
mentors to neighborhood Also under consideration
youths who feel adrift in is simply insulating Molen-
mainstream Belgian soci- beek, closing off the streets
ety. from the outside and shut-
The group of community ting down the neighbor-
organizers was looking for hood subway stops, allow-
ways to head off an es- ing trains to pass through.
calation of violence in the But it is feared even that
largely Muslim neighbor- will not be enough.
hood, hoping to avoid a
situation like occurred last UK man convicted of plotting to attack US troops
Sunday when hundreds
of black-clad hooligans LONDON (AP) — A British The 25-year-old’s work for a They discussed attacking nothing on me or wouldve
shouting Nazi slogans dis- delivery driver was con- pharmaceutical firm took military personnel after fak- (sic) got into an accident
rupted a memorial at Brus- victed Friday of planning him past several U.S. air ing a road accident. with them and made them
sels’ Bourse square for the to attack American military bases in eastern England, They said Abu Hussain was get out the car.”
32 victims of the March 22 personnel in the U.K. with and prosecutors said he British-born militant Junaid Hussain replied: “That’s
attacks on the airport and knives or a bomb in a plot discussed ways of target- Hussain, who was killed in what the brother done
subway system. inspired by the Islamic State ing them with an IS militant a U.S. drone strike in the IS with Lee Rigby.” Rigby was
This time, a relatively un- group. in Syria. Prosecutors said stronghold of Raqqa last a British soldier who was
known Belgian group has A jury at London’s Kingston Khan, who was arrested in year. run down by a car and
pledged to “expel the Is- Crown Court found Junead July, had exchanged on- In one exchange, Khan told stabbed to death by two
lamists” and police warn Khan guilty of preparing an line messages with a man Hussain he had seen some al-Qaida-inspired attackers
act of terrorism. calling himself Abu Hussain. soldiers driving, “but I had in 2013.
