| Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network al-Qaeda has an active cell in the Netherlands which is ready to strike, according to the published transcript of telephone intercepts. It is unclear if the Islamic terrorists referred to in the transcripts plan to attack in the Netherlands or elsewhere in Europe. Newspaper El Pais and Italian daily La Repubblica published partial transcripts of telephone conversations by alleged terrorist ’Mohammed the Egyptian’ who was arrested in Milan on Tuesday. In one of the intercepted telephone conversation, he allegedly told a friend: "You should know one cell was ready in the Netherlands. Later, for various reasons, it fell apart. At the moment there is just one person who is ready. He is nervous, having just come out of prison - but everything in good time." The Dutch security service AIVD had refused to comment on the reports, due to the "operational character" of the information from Spain and Italy, Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant said. Dutch Liberal party parliamentarians Geert Wilders and Ayaan Hirsi Ali have called on the government to comment on the suggestions the Netherlands is a terrorist target. |