Half a year ago, Alain Winants, the chief of the Belgian State Security Service, requested the Moroccan authorities to withdraw three of their secret service [DGED] officers from Belgium. Morocco has ignored this request.
According to Winants, the three persons in question had behaved in an "unacceptable" way within the margins of the investigation into [Belgian-Moroccan terror suspect] Belliraj and they were also being suspected of recruitment practices.
The three persons, who work under the cover of diplomats at the Embassy of Morocco in Brussels, obstructed the work of the Belgian State Security Service, according to Winants. They are still active in Brussels. Cooperation in the case of Abdelkader Belliraj between the State Security Service and the Moroccan intelligence services is flawed.
Belliraj is the Belgian Moroccan whom the Moroccan legal authorities regard as the military leader of a terrorist network. At the same time, he used to work as an informer for the Belgian State Security Service.
At present, one could say that the two services are openly at odds with one another. As long as the withdrawal request is being ignored, Winants will refuse to maintain contacts with the DGED. He also announced that the two ministers in charge, Justice Minister Jo Vandeurzen (CD&V [Christian Democratic and Flemish]) and Interior Minister Patrick Dewael (VLD [Flemish Liberal Democrats]) have been informed about the issue.
Africa's last colonySince 1975, three quarters of the Western Sahara territory has been illegally occupied by Morocco. The original population lives divided between those suffering human rights abuses under the Moroccan occupation and those living in exile in Algerian refugee camps. For more than 40 years, the Saharawi await the fulfilment of their legitimate right to self-determination.
Since 1975, three quarters of the Western Sahara territory has been illegally occupied by Morocco. The original population lives divided between those suffering human rights abuses under the Moroccan occupation and those living in exile in Algerian refugee camps. For more than 40 years, the Saharawi await the fulfilment of their legitimate right to self-determination.
