Word: belgians
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Mind-boggling incompetency" is how one American diplomatic source characterized Belgium's laggard cooperation with U.S. efforts to catch terrorists. Since Belgian police arrested two men two days after the Sept. 11 attacks, American officials have pleaded for hard information (phone numbers, addresses, travel itineraries) on one of the men, Nizar Trabelsi, a Tunisian citizen suspected to have been the designated suicide bomber for a planned attack on the American embassy in Paris. Belgian officials say the U.S. did not properly request the Trabelsi dossier until Sept. 27. It took weeks after that, they say, to scan the documents, which...
...potentially dangerous items that pass through X-ray machines, according to the GAO. Their European counterparts are reportedly twice as effective. Reasons? TRAINING: U.S. screeners spend 12 hours in class; those in France study for 60 hours. SALARY: U.S. screeners start at $5.15 an hour, with minimal benefits; Belgian screeners make $14 an hour, with health care, vacation, sick pay, bonuses and a track to managerial positions. TURNOVER: In Europe, less than 50% annually; in the U.S., on average, 126% annually...
Emirates authorities relayed their stunning information to officials in Europe, who immediately placed Beghal?s operatives under surveillance. Although French investigators say the planned strikes were still months away, the Sept. 11 U.S. attacks prompted Belgian and Dutch police to move immediately, just in case European timetables had been advanced. That, complained France?s top antiterrorist investigator Jean-Louis Brugière, not only halted monitoring to identify other members of the cabal, but also risked provoking the flight of network members in France and Spain. As it turned out, police raids in France interrupted terror suspects in the process...
...Belgian and Dutch action did, however, net an unusual array of characters. Among those arrested was Frenchman Jérôme Courtellier, a convert to Islam whose brother trained at the Afghan camps and is currently in a French prison for terrorism-related crimes. Also apprehended was Nizar Trabelsi, 31, a Tunisian and former pro soccer player, who was lured from an errant life of drugs and alcohol by the redemption of radical Islam. Moving on Beghal?s identification of Trabelsi as the designated bomber for the U.S. embassy attack, Belgian police raided his apartment and found automatic weapons...
...company," said ceo Christoph M?ller. Sabena will hold a vote of its workers this week in an effort to win approval for the rescue plan. Swissair agreed earlier this year to give Sabena $227 million, or 60% of a promised cash injection, with the rest provided by the Belgian government. The deal is contingent on employees accepting the rescue plan...