Up to 20 terror groups present in the Netherlands-TV

AMSTERDAM, July 16 (Reuters) – Up to 20 radical groups with several hundred members ready to use violence are present in the Netherlands, Interior Minister Johan Remkes was quoted as saying on Saturday.

Remkes also told a Dutch television station that the groups had women in their ranks, saying this was a new development.

“There are groups that are purely local and groups that have international connections, and you are talking in the order of 10 to 20 groups,” Remkes said, according to excerpts of an interview published on the web site of TV network IKON.

“It is not all men. Recently, this is a new phenomenon, women play a greater role, and also people with a Dutch background that have converted to Islam.”

Asked how many people belonged to the hard core of radical groups and were ready to use violence, he said: “Several hundred”.

“It is normally people who live here and who appear to be susceptible to radicalisation,” said Remkes, whose ministry oversees the Dutch intelligence service AIVD.

Dutch police stepped up border checks and increased security around British buildings in the country after the suicide bombings that killed more than 50 people in London last week.

Earlier this week, Dutch police arrested a 17-year-old after finding home-made explosives in his parents’ home. News agency ANP said the teenager had a Dutch-British background and converted to Islam when he was 14.

A Dutch-Moroccan teenager was acquitted in April of charges he planned attacks on government buildings, Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport and the Dutch parliament.

Several Dutch politicians have been under heavy police protection since the murder last year of outspoken filmmaker Theo van Gogh following death threats for their criticism of radical Islam.

IKON is due to broadcast the interview on Saturday evening.

Read Another Article

An LDS birthday bash
Madonna’s Kabbalah group under scrutiny

Related News Articles Topic(s): Islam Subscribe to Religion News Blog updates Subscribe to Religion News Blog [What is this?] Get Religion News Blog's headline by Email [What is this?] Follow Religion News Blog at Twitter Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults: ApologeticsSearch.com: Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs. CounterCultSearch.com: Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, and cults experts -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support. Find Related Religion & Spirituality Books at Amazon.com Islam Possibly related... or Most Popular Religion News Articles Kent Hovind: Evangelist arrested on federal charges Beast’s real mark devalued to ’616′ Muslim Woman Gives Sex Advice on Arab TV Michael Jackson Confirms Conversion to Islam Kent Hovind, ‘Dr. Dino,’ guilty on all counts The fall and rise of Carlton Pearson Search False prophet Harold Camping sets another date for rapture: May 21, 2011 Watch the film Theo van Gogh was murdered for Kent Hovind — Dr. Dino — sentenced to 10 years in prison

Search Religion News Blog