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Dutch Expert: Islamic State has 60-80 Operatives in Europe

by Associated Press

   NEW YORK --

   Intelligence experts estimate that the Islamic State extremist group
   has 60 to 80 operatives planted in Europe to carry out attacks, the
   Dutch counterterrorism coordinator said Friday.

   Dick Schoof said in an interview with The Associated Press that
   would-be fighters are also heeding messages from the militant group
   "asking them not to come to Syria and Iraq, but to prepare attacks in
   Europe."

   One result is that over the last six months the number of foreign
   terrorist fighters hasn't grown, he said, but the fact that they're not
   traveling "does not mean that the potential threat of those who would
   have traveled is diminished."

   Schoof said military operations to oust the Islamic State from its
   self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq are scattering the extremist
   group's fighters and supporters.

   Increase in refugees likely

   This will probably lead to a gradual increase of refugees that will
   pose a danger to the national security of the Netherlands and other
   European countries, he said.

   Schoof said even though the Netherlands hasn't been hit by a major
   attack by Islamic extremists such as those in Belgium and France, "the
   chance of attack in the Netherlands is real."

   "We have seen 294 terrorist fighters go overseas in Iraq and Syria and
   there are still 190 over there," he said. "And what happened in France
   and Brussels and Germany could happen to us."

   There are probably 4,000 to 5,000 European foreign terrorist fighters
   in Iraq and Syria, Schoof said.

   While the number from the Netherlands, a nation of 17 million people,
   may seem low, he said, "whether there's 190 or 350, I think the number
   is big enough to worry."

   Schoof, who was in New York to speak on "returning foreign terrorist
   fighters," said the Netherlands' program to deal with the threat
   balances repression and prevention and relies on strong cooperation
   between local and national authorities.

   On the repression side, he said, fighters returning from Syria or Iraq
   are taken into custody and prosecuted, and courts have recently handed
   down six-year prison sentences in several cases. The government also
   takes away passports, freezes assets, and has beefed up security
   measures and the police force, he said.

   On the prevention side, Schoof said, there's a lot of family support,
   with local authorities deciding the best interventions and providing
   education and psychological help if needed, but there also could be
   arrests.

   Build trust with Muslims

   Jozias van Aartsen, the mayor of The Hague, said building trust and
   having close relations with the Muslim community is very important.

   "They are Dutch citizens," he said. "There are some in the Netherlands
   who say shut down mosques. That's absolutely wrong policy."

   Last week, Schoof said, the Federation of Mosques, without any urging,
   sent a letter to all mosques in the country saying "the mosques
   themselves must realize that hate speech should not be accepted in the
   mosques."

   "Those are important signals that you can build on in your trust
   relationships," he said.