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| Al-Qaida Suspect in Belgium Confesses |
| 2002-11-15 |
| A Tunisian terror suspect has confessed in a radio interview that he learned to build bombs from Osama bin Laden's operatives and planned to attack a Belgian air base where the United States has soldiers. Nizar Trabelsi also told the RTBF radio network that he met bin Laden in Afghanistan and loves him "just like a father." Trabelsi said that when he was arrested two days after the Sept. 11 attacks, he was planning an attack against the Kleine-Brogel Air Base in northeastern Belgium. There are about 100 U.S. Air Force personnel based at Kleine-Brogel as part of a munitions support squadron. Anti-nuclear campaigners have long claimed that U.S. nuclear weapons are held at Kleine-Brogel, a claim that the Belgian government neither confirms nor denies. The USAF owns and maintains the nukes, the Belgian AF is tasked to deliver them. That's why the Belgian government is keeping its mouth shut. Trabelsi said he met with bin Laden, leader of the al-Qaida network, on a visit to Afghanistan and sees him as a mentor. "I love him just like a father. Whatever he has done in the past, it doesn't matter to me," Trabelsi said in the RTBF interview. "I love Islam, I love Muslims and I love all human beings, except the Americans," he said. To an Islamist, Americans aren't human beings. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #2 Well, as one who did weapons custodial duty someplace in Europe at one time, the weapons actually belong to the Prez. The host nation owns the delivery device. As for provisions of the NNT, the treaty is only as good as the guy on the other side abiding by international standards; like not violating the borders of a quiet, peaceful, law abiding nation. If the other guy has no problems ignoring that, we have no problems with using the NATO treaty which lets us defend the members as we see fit which includes giving them the means to defend themselves. The only reason the other guy didn't make similar arrangements with his client nations was because he was afraid they might actually turn them on himself. |
| Posted by: Don 2002-11-16 10:08:07 |
| #1 Actually there is NO possibility that the US would task the Belgian AF with delivering any nuclear weapons. That would violate the provisions of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of which Belgium is a signatory and the US is both a signatory and a depositary State. Before the NPT came into effect (1970) there was an arrangement that Canadians, in NORAD, could have cotrol of aircraft with nuclear weapons, but that has been illegal since then. |
| Posted by: Russell 2002-11-15 20:58:45 |