Dutch police stormed an apartment and arrested two people on Wednesday, ending a 14-hour stand-off that began when suspects sought in anti-terrorism probe wounded three officers in a hand grenade blast. A police spokesman said a special police unit entered the apartment in The Hague to end the drama that began when officers launched a pre-dawn raid on the building. Police said the suspects resisted arrested and threw a grenade at them.
| Thought they were still back in Pakistan, did they? |
Heavily armed police had circled the building all day, which is located in a poor neighborhood of The Hague where almost half the population is nuts immigrant. The area was cordoned off and the airspace over the city closed. One bystander estimated there were almost 200 police on the scene, including officers wearing balaclava masks and carrying machineguns. "The police are now investigating the apartment," the police spokesman said. "The siege is over." Shots had been heard as dusk fell. Police said in a statement one of the suspects had been injured in the shoulder.
| You'll have to work on that aim, I guess... |
Officials declined to say whether the operation was linked to last week's killing of Van Gogh by a suspected Islamic militant that has sparked apparent tit-for-tat attacks on churches and mosques. Violence has spiralled in the Netherlands — a country renowned for its tolerance and liberal views — since Van Gogh was shot and stabbed as he cycled to work on Nov. 2. More than 10 mosques and churches have been hit by arson attacks since Van Gogh was killed. On Tuesday night there was an arson attack on a Muslim school, where the words "Theo R.I.P." were scrawled on the walls along with a "White Power" sign. A little-known Islamist group threatened on Tuesday to hit the Netherlands if the attacks on Muslim buildings did not stop. The country has received several threats from Islamic militants over the presence of 1,300 of its troops in Iraq. Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who visited the Muslim primary school gutted by a fire, told parliament he would work with organizations representing the almost 1 million Muslims who make up almost 6 percent of the population. "We must not allow ourselves to be swept away in a maelstrom of violence," he said. "Free expression of opinion, freedom of religion and other basic rights are the foundation stones of our state and our democracy. They are valid for everybody, always."
| Thank you for the warm milk. Do you have any substantive plan of action? Or are you waiting for it all to blow over? |
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