April 8, 2016
By Emmanuel Dunand
Paris attacks suspect Mohamed Abrini (click here) was arrested Friday, a police source said as Belgian authorities announced they had detained several people in connection with the deadly Brussels airport and metro bombings.
The police source gave no details of the location or circumstances of Abrini's arrest but VRT television said it took place in the Anderlecht district of the Belgian capital which was home to several other suspects now linked to both the Paris and Brussels attacks.
Abrini, 31, a Belgian of Moroccan descent, was caught on film at a motorway service station en route to Paris shortly before the November 13 killings with another suspect, the now detained Salah Abdeslam.
Abdeslam, whose brother Brahim blew himself up in Paris, was arrested March 18 in Brussels, not far from his family's home in the Molenbeek district of the capital.
By Emmanuel Dunand
Paris attacks suspect Mohamed Abrini (click here) was arrested Friday, a police source said as Belgian authorities announced they had detained several people in connection with the deadly Brussels airport and metro bombings.
The police source gave no details of the location or circumstances of Abrini's arrest but VRT television said it took place in the Anderlecht district of the Belgian capital which was home to several other suspects now linked to both the Paris and Brussels attacks.
Abrini, 31, a Belgian of Moroccan descent, was caught on film at a motorway service station en route to Paris shortly before the November 13 killings with another suspect, the now detained Salah Abdeslam.
Abdeslam, whose brother Brahim blew himself up in Paris, was arrested March 18 in Brussels, not far from his family's home in the Molenbeek district of the capital.
Once again Molenbeek comes to the forefront of another terrorist arrest. I cannot state often enough how poverty plays into the estrangement of these men.
I tend to think of impoverished communities as isolated from main street society. It is not difficult for a corrupt and/or angry holy man to instill the idea of revenge against society in the name of Allah.
Religious leaders should have answers for men or women seeking a better quality of life. They need to be able to help with real opportunity such as a school or training for employment. Their answers should never be to carry out revenge in the name of Daesh, therefore displacing Allah into the identity of a criminal genocidal terrorist regime. Is there anything more warped than that?
In the case of the men carrying out killing in the name of Allah, including a migrant from Syria that came through Greece, they were lead to believe there was elevated purpose for them against the very societies where they lived. That is so deranged, but, a former Saddam Ba'athist has done exactly that. He has taken the purity of a men's spiritual relationship with Allah and turned it into a perverse idea of justice by death of others and death of themselves.
Such a reality of a person is disgusting. To realize a person's mind can become their own worst enemy as well as the enemy of their society. Religious leaders should be capable of hope and encouragement. They should be empowered by their society to find good outcomes for their flocks. A holy man's value should lie in the ability to foster happiness and well being within their congregations. A holy man should be interested in solving their problems and not creating them.
Molenbeek became a haven for hatred. It was easier to achieve than anyone could imagine. It is so outrageous to realize this impoverished community found purpose in killing.
Europe has to invest in their religious leaders to empower them to move their communities into hope and accomplishment and to dispel hate. The funding for it might come from those interesting offshoring outposts. It would actually put those monies to work for sincerely needed community reform.
It has taken until now to apprehend the murderer because there is an aspect of that community invested in success of the death of others. That has to stop. The community in Molenbeek has to align itself with their leadership and not a angry holy man instilling hatred. The community has to give up the idea of finding purpose in causing death. They need better outcomes in their lives. I am worried for Europe.
It has taken until now to apprehend the murderer because there is an aspect of that community invested in success of the death of others. That has to stop. The community in Molenbeek has to align itself with their leadership and not a angry holy man instilling hatred. The community has to give up the idea of finding purpose in causing death. They need better outcomes in their lives. I am worried for Europe.
