Belgium says France endangered terror raid

By Dan Bilefsky International Herald Tribune

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2005

PARIS In a dispute that security officials say illustrates the difficulties of creating a united European front against terrorism, Belgian officials on Friday accused France of endangering an anti-terror operation by disclosing that a suicide bomber in Iraq was a Belgian woman.

The Belgian authorities said French anti-terrorism officials had nearly foiled a lengthy investigation into an Al Qaeda terrorism network operating in Brussels by revealing the identity of Muriel Degauque - a former baker's assistant turned Islamic suicide bomber - before Belgian anti-terrorist police officers closed in on her cell.

They said the French leak had forced the Belgian officers to speed up planned dawn raids that this week resulted in the detainment of 14 suspects, 5 of whom were charged Thursday with involvement in a terrorist network that sent volunteers to Iraq. The network had included Degauque, a 38-year-old Belgian from the old industrial town of Charleroi, who blew herself up in Baghdad on Nov. 9.

"We are very concerned that French officials revealed the name of the Belgian suicide bomber before the Belgian police had made any arrests," said Annaik Devoghel, spokeswoman for Laurette Onkelinx, the Belgian justice minister. "This could have compromised an investigation that took months of work."

Belgium has yet to confirm who was behind the leak, but Belgian officials said all the evidence pointed to Jean-Louis Bruguière, a French anti-terror judge who has been closely involved in the investigation.

A Belgian official close to the case, who declined to give his name because of the diplomatic sensitivities of the dispute, said, "How can we trust French officials when they have loose lips?"

Bruguière was unavailable for comment, despite repeated attempts Friday to reach him. Officials from the Paris tribunal overseeing the French capital's judges declined to comment.

Onkelinx, who was attending a two-day meeting of justice ministers in Brussels, told reporters on Thursday that she had raised her concerns to the French Ministry of Internal Affairs.

On Friday, the French Ministry of Justice declined to comment.

Belgian officials said Degauque had become radicalized after marrying a Belgian of Moroccan origin, who helped convert her to Islam.

After the marriage, she changed her name to Myriam, wore a veil and became devoutly religious.

She joined a terrorist cell linked to Al Qaeda before traveling to Iraq, where she targeted a U.S. military convoy south of Baghdad.

Police officers said a Belgian passport had been found on her body, along with papers which showed she had entered Iraq via Syria. Her husband was killed in Iraq in a separate incident, the police said.





Accord on anti-terror step

EU justice and interior ministers tentatively agreed Friday on plans binding telecommunications companies to retain phone calls and e-mails for a minimum of six months for use in counterterror investigations, diplomats said, The Associated Press reported from Brussels.

The compromise, which was agreed to by a majority of EU nations, still needs the approval of the European Parliament, but foresees leaving it up to EU governments to retain such data for from 6 to 24 months, officials said.

Italy and Ireland led the opposition to the plan, arguing that new EU legislation would contradict national laws that already go further.

However, at the end of the talks, only Poland, Ireland, Slovenia and Slovakia remained opposed, not enough to block the measure.